Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, you will have multiple opportunities to interact with school-age students while you are learning about effective ways to teach reading. This starts in the freshman year in the Introduction to the Profession course through a collaboration with Van Buren Schools in which you will tutor one-on-one. 


Summary of Reading Field Experiences for the Reading Endorsement

1. Within both the Phonics and Emergent Literacy courses, you will participate in observations and tutoring in school settings.
2. During Issues of Reading for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities, you will discuss, observe classroom situations, and develop comprehensive portfolios of strategies that work with students on individual education plans (IEPs).
3. While in Content Reading , you will build lesson plans/units/models to be used within field experiences. Graduate students participating in the summer session of Content Reading work with Findlay High School (FHS) ninth graders to help them learn about and apply study skills/content reading and writing strategies using the textbooks that will be used in their freshman classes. Other candidates work with FHS students during their Academic Study Halls (ASH).
4. For the Assessment and Diagnosis portion of the endorsement, you will participate in the newly established “Reading and Literacy Center.” This clinic provides a service to families and schools in the surrounding communities, as well as provides you with a rich experience in diagnostic assessment and intervention.

The culminating course in the endorsement is Research in Reading. In this capstone experience, you will engage in developing literacy-related action research and professional inservice activities.