ReadOregon Online Reading Endorsement

Welcome

The ReadOregon program is a collaborative effort of five universities in the Oregon University System—Eastern Oregon University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Southern Oregon University, and Western Oregon University—in cooperation with OUS Departments of Distance and Continuing Education.

The ReadOregon program consists of three new collaborative distance education programs available to teachers statewide:

• Reading Specialist Endorsement Program: graduate-level, distance-delivered 24-credit reading specialist endorsement program. A required supervised practicum will be conducted in the schools. It will be necessary for teachers to successfully complete the program of study and pass the Praxis II exam in Reading in order to add the Reading Specialist endorsement to their teaching license.
• Literacy Education Course of Study: graduate-level, distance-delivered, 12-credit literacy education certificate of completion for general classroom teachers.
• Professional development: classroom teachers not interested in the full 12-credit certificate program or those looking to complete continuing licensure professional development requirements can take the modules and many of the courses individually.

The goal of both the Literacy Education Course of Study and the Reading Specialist Program is to improve the reading abilities of students in Oregon's schools. ReadOregon modules and courses were designed to be used toward a reading specialist endorsement, a concentration in a master's degree program, and/or a component of your professional development in the content area of literacy.

General Information

Course of study
For the eight-term catalog of ReadOregon courses by thematic area and the current schedule of reading/literacy courses available through ReadOregon, visit www.readoregon.org

ReadOregon Reading Endorsement - 24-credit program

• Literacy Foundations - 3 credits required
• Literacy Strategies and Methods - 3 credits required
• Literacy for Diverse Learners - 3 credits required
• Literacy Assessment - 3 credits required
• Leadership in School Reading Programs - 3 credits required
• Practicum - 3 credits required (90 hours of in-school or in-district, university approved literacy work) taken at home university
• Electives - 6 credits
  (All literature courses are electives. Students should take at least 3 credits of literature coursework as their electives. Students may choose coursework from the other thematic areas for the remaining 3 credits of electives.)

ReadOregon Classroom Teacher Certificate of Literacy - 12-credit program

• Literacy Strategies and Methods - 3 credits required
• Literacy for Diverse Learners - 3 credits required
• Electives - 6 credits
  (All literature courses are electives. Student may choose courses in other thematic areas that meet their needs.)

Course waiver and transfer credit guidelines
Following are the general guidelines to request course waivers and transfer credits for the ReadOregon reading endorsement:

• Literacy courses not listed in the ReadOregon online catalog must be taken at the graduate level to be considered for a course waiver.
• All graduate-level literacy courses 1) must have been completed within the last seven years; and 2) must not have been part of a basic/initial license program (i.e., they should be professional coursework over and beyond the licensure courses).
• Coursework must be verifiable by submitting 1) a syllabus or a comprehensive course description showing that the substituting course’s content is appropriately similar to the course being waived; and 2) a transcript showing that an “A” or “B” grade was received for the coursework.
• Although PSU’s ReadOregon program accepts more than 15 hours of ReadOregon courses from the other universities, students in PSU’s master’s programs are still limited to 15 transfer credits for credits.*

*Students can only transfer 15 credits into a master’s degree. Portland State University coursework taken prior to admission to the master’s degree and non-PSU coursework are considered transfer credits into master’s degrees. Therefore, students cannot complete the 24-credit ReadOregon reading endorsement program, apply for the master’s degree, and transfer all of the 24 credits into the degree. Students must be simultaneously admitted to the ReadOregon endorsement and the master’s degree for all PSU ReadOregon courses to count but non-PSU ReadOregon courses will still be considered as “transfer credits” for master’s degrees.

Program benefits
Both courses and modules are delivered through distance education and other flexible formats to accommodate the schedules of busy teachers. The collaborative nature of the development and delivery of the program ensures that high quality, accessibility, and regular availability of courses/modules aligns with Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) and International Reading Association (IRA) standards, and focuses on application in the classroom and in school literacy programs.

Each institution offers a mix of courses and modules, making best use of the expertise available from the individual institution's faculty.

Program goal
The goal of both the Literacy Education course of study and the Reading Endorsement program is to improve the reading abilities of students in Oregon's schools. Courses and modules are available in the areas of literacy foundations, literacy for diverse learners, literacy strategies and methods, assessment, literature, and leadership of school reading programs.

The ReadOregon reading endorsement was approved by TSPC, in August 2003. A course schedule and links to more than 40 distance-delivered courses in the ReadOregon programs can be viewed at www1.ous.edu/ousweb/plsql/owrf_course_show_theme.

Click here for information on available scholarships, financial aid, and estimated program costs.