Reading Specialist Certification Program
To enroll in the Reading Specialist certification program at Cedar Crest College, you are required to be certified to teach, regardless of whether or not you are currently employed as a teacher. The Reading Specialist certification program is a 24 to 33 credit graduate-level program approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Enrolling in the Reading Specialist certification program at Cedar Crest means top professors in the literacy field will prepare you in the latest instructional techniques so you can provide reading support to all students in K-12 classrooms.
The Cedar Crest program is also one of the few in the region that provides the opportunity to choose between teaching students or teaching your colleagues, thanks to a literacy coaching option that allows you to “train the trainer.”
While the program prepares you to be a Reading Specialist, the benefits of this certification do not end there: After receiving your Reading Specialist certification here at Cedar Crest, you can apply those credits to the Art of Teaching Master of Education degree.
Other key features of the program include:
- Flexible field practicum, including summer opportunities
- Courses are eligible for Act-48 credit
- Competitive pricing and convenient payment options
- Discounted tuition rate for teachers currently working in a local school district
Course Requirements
- SPE 243 The Exceptional Child 3 credits
- SPE 320 or 520 Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities 3 credits
- EDU 359 or 559 Curriculum, Assessment and Instructional Strategies for Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students 3 credits
- EDU 513 Reading and Language Arts 3 credits
- EDU 514 Reading in the Content Area 3 credits
- REA 503 Reading: Past , Present & Future 3 credits
- REA 504 Diagnosis, Assessment, and Remedial Reading Techniques 3 credits REA 505 Word Study and Vocabulary Development 3 credits
- REA 506 Literacy Coaching 3 credits
- REA 507 Reading Specialist Practicum-Early and Elementary Experience 3 credits
- REA 508 Reading Specialist Practicum-Middle and High School Experience 3 credits or REA 509 Leaderships as the Reading Professional 3 credits
Field practicum as follows
- REA 507: Reading Specialist—Early and Elementary Experience
- REA 508: Reading Specialist—Middle and High School Experience
OR - REA 509: Leadership as the Reading Professional
Note: Student transcripts will be evaluated to meet PDE requirements of 9 credits in Spec. Ed. and 3 credits in ESL.
