Utah State Office of Education

Course Outcomes:

Students in the internship experience will:

Course Outcomes:	See Standards:
1. Under the supervison of district or school specialists, expand current theoretical knowledge on practices and research findings to address and implement applications for school or district improvement.	1.6, 1.7, 11.5, and 16.1
2. Articulate and demonstrate research-based literacy strategies for the improvement of literacy learning for other school professionals.	7.1, 11.4, and 12.5
3. Work with district or school specialists to explore a wide-variety of reading programs and instructional and evaluation/assessment issues.	10.0, 10.2, 12.1, and 12.3
4. Under the supervision of district or school specialists develop and implement professional development (learning) opportunities for teachers.	11.2, 13.2, 13.3, and 13.4
Course Outcomes, Continued:	See Standards:
5. Work with teachers to provide them with assistance and support to improve their reading instruction.	12.2, and 12.7
6. Work with teachers to provide expert assessment and and intervention advice for students with reading difficulties.	4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4
7. Promote self-monitoring of new learning as well as assess one’s previous experiences with reading programs, instruction, assessment, and evaluation.	13.5, 13.6, and 16.2

Suggested Course Requirements, Evaluation, and Assignments:

The reading specialist internship is designed as a culminating experience for the Utah Advanced Reading Endorsement. Congruent with this philosophy, the student will submit a proposal for the internship to be agreed to by a district coordinator and the university internship director. The internship should allow for 60 to 90 hours of activity.

In designing the internship, each student must assess her expertise using the following list of competencies.

Competencies for Level 2 Reading Specialists

1. Literacy textbook adoption process

2. Struggling readers, assessment and interventions

3. Inservice for literacy

4. Role of the staff developer on a district and school level

5. Research knowledge

6. District budgeting process to support literacy (What would your role be?)

7. Reading/writing instruction and application across the curriculum

8. Integrating services/co-teaching: Title I, spec. Ed., school media, etc.

9. Engagement of the community and community partners

10. Model literacy sites

11. Technology in literacy instruction

12. Impact of federal programs and initiatives

Write briefly of your knowledge and experiences with each of the 12 competencies so that your district supervisor and the university supervisor can assess your level of knowledge and experience. Pick your internship experiences to further build your knowledge and experience in areas you are less acquainted with, and then gather information on the other items.

Select one activity from each of the three strands (curriculum, professional development, assessment and evaluation) listed below to augment your knowledge and experience. on each of the Should the student desire an activity not listed below, advanced approval of the district coordinator and the university internship director must be obtained.

Curriculum Strand (examples):

1. Compare and contrast at least 2 different reading programs under consideration by a school or district. Prepare a written summary of each of the programs. Describe the programs’ intended uses, their theoretical and/or research base, costs of adoption, professional development issues and concerns, and how the school or district would evaluate their effectiveness.

2. Investigate the processes of curriculum integration. Develop a curriculum map for curriculum integration.

3. Research an issue that poses a significant reading problem unique to the school or district. Submit a written report that describes the nature of the problem, a review of professional literature associate with the issue, and a recommended course of action for the correction of that specific reading issue.

Professional Development Strand (examples):

1. Plan, organize, and implement a professional development offering that explores a specific issue relating to literacy. This offering must include several sessions not a one-shot in-service class.

2. Work with the school or district to provide a struggling teacher with professional support to improve reading instruction in that teacher’s classroom. Summarize what assistance was provided and the effects of that assistance.

3. Design a professional development plan for your personal knowledge and instruction base. Follow your plan and submit a written report on what you did.

Assessment and Evaluation Strand (examples):

1. Prepare and present an evaluation of a current reading program already in use in your school or district. Present your evaluation to the school’s principal or district curriculum specialist. Describe a course of action that the school or district may wish to follow based on your evaluation.

2. Work with a district specialist who gathers numerical data for the district. Assist that individual as he/she gathers, analyzes, interprets, and summarizes test score data. Submit a written report of what you did.

3. Work with a classroom teacher to identify two or three students who need an individual assessment and evaluation of their reading strengths and limitations. Prepare a written summary of your assessment and evaluation.

Professional Ethics:

Failure to maintain academic ethics/academic honesty including the avoidance of cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsification will result in an E in the course, and may result in charges being issued, hearing being held and/or sanctions being imposed.

Required Text:

none

Evaluation and Assessment:

This course is offered on a credit/no credit basis. The school/district coordinator and the university internship director will evaluate the student’s internship experience and supporting artifacts. Credit or no credit will be based on the quality of the experiences and artifacts.