Here are ten simple, effective literacy strategies you can use across subject areas to support your students and build their confidence with words.

10 Literacy Strategies for the Classroom

Use Think Alouds

Think-Alouds and read-alouds have been used for decades to help students learn how to monitor their own thinking. The process is simple: you verbalize what you are thinking as you read a passage or figure out a problem.

You pause, ask questions, make predictions, and essentially show them how you work through it. Students get a glimpse into your mind, which helps them monitor their own thinking and understanding of the text or problem.

Try it during a history text, a science article, or even word problems in math. Students begin to see that reading is an active process, not something passive.

Try Think-Pair-Share

One of the best literacy strategies to boost comprehension is to let students talk about what they’re learning. Think-pair-share is one of those strategies that works across all subjects and grade levels.

It gives every student a chance to participate, first by thinking on their own, then by talking it out with a partner, and finally by sharing it with the group. It’s a simple strategy that doesn’t require any preparation and can completely transform the way students process and engage with the content.

Consider using it before, during, or after a lesson, solving a math problem, or after students watch a short video. Talking helps students process what they’ve learned and gives them a chance to hear different perspectives.

Teach Vocabulary Words

Don’t assume students know all vocabulary words. Take a few minutes to teach new words before diving into a new lesson. Write the word on the board, define it, and use it in a sentence. Then have students tell you in their own words what it means.

Revisit each new word throughout the week; the more students are exposed to it, the more likely they will remember it and use it correctly. Vocabulary knowledge is critical to reading comprehension; that’s why it’s essential to implement effective vocabulary learning strategies so students can develop an extensive word bank.

Incorporate Quick Writes

Quick writes are short, focused writing bursts that are usually just a few minutes long. They help students reflect, process ideas, and make connections. You can use them before a lesson to activate prior knowledge or after a lesson to check understanding.

Prompts can be open-ended or specific. For example: “What stood out to you most in today’s experiment?” or “How would you explain the main idea to a friend?” There is no need to grade everything because the goal is to get students comfortable expressing themselves in writing.

Use Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers help students organize their thoughts and make sense of what they’re reading or learning. Here are a few ways to use them in different subjects.

• Venn diagrams to compare concepts or help students write an essay about different characters.
• Concept maps to show relationships between specific concepts, characters in a story, or even vocabulary words.
• T-Charts for social studies students to compare two different political candidates.
• KWL charts for any subject to learn about what they want to know, what they already know, and what they have learned about a topic or subject.
• Cause-and-effect charts in science to show how pollution affects local ecosystems, like what happens when too much fertilizer runs into a pond.
• Timeline templates in history to help students organize key events leading up to the American Revolution, including major acts, protests, and battles.

The visual layout helps students structure their thinking. And it gives you a clear window into their understanding.

Build Background Knowledge

Before diving into any new topic, take some time to build background knowledge. Show a short video, look at pictures, or do a quick class brainstorm. This helps level the playing field, especially for students who may not have the same life experiences or vocabulary. When students have context, they’re more likely to stay engaged and understand what they’re reading.

Try starting with a quick question like “What do you already know about this topic?” to help spark a discussion. Or use a real-world example to help students relate to the topic before stepping into something completely unfamiliar.

Scaffold Complex Texts

Not all reading material is student-friendly, especially in upper grades. If you begin a new chapter, read key vocabulary words, preview the chapter, or read a few chunks of the first chapter together as the class. You can also offer sentence starters or question stems to help students respond.

Scaffolding doesn’t mean dumbing it down; it’s making sure students have a firm grasp of the information that they are about to learn by giving them the tools to succeed.

Connect Reading and Writing

Reading and writing go hand in hand. After reading a text, ask students to respond in writing. They can summarize, analyze, or share their opinion. Or you can flip it: Have them write first, then read a related article to compare. The more students practice both skills together, the more their thinking deepens.

Teach Active Reading Skills

Teach students how to slow down and engage with what they are reading. Show them how to underline key points, highlight unfamiliar words, and write down notes in the margins. Be sure to model this and show them what to look for. As they get more comfortable, they’ll start to develop their own habits. Annotation becomes a way for them to track their thinking, ask questions, and make connections as they go.

This strategy works across all subjects. In science, they can mark cause-and-effect relationships. In history, they can highlight important dates or key arguments. And in English, it helps with everything from theme to character development. When students interact with the text this way, they don’t just read it; they start to understand it on a deeper level.

Celebrate All Kinds of Literacy

Celebrate reading and writing in all its forms—comic books, poetry, song lyrics, podcasts, how-to videos, and student-made stories. When students see that literacy shows up in the real world, it feels more meaningful.

Give students a choice whenever possible. When they get to read or write something that matters to them, they’re more likely to stay invested.

You’ve got important career goals — we have the graduate program to get you there. Check out our available reading/literacy graduate degree programs  to advance your career today!

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For me, my personal passion and purpose in life is exhibited in being a literacy coach. Our students and teachers around the world deserve an incredible literacy coach, and we need to teach the world to read. Let’s walk through how to become a literacy coach.

What Does a Literacy Coach Do?

It’s important to remember that in education, terms like reading specialist or literacy coach are often interchanged and the roles may overlap in schools and districts. However, while a reading specialist is often responsible for working directly with students, a literacy coach is responsible for working with teachers. Since we have a shortage of funding and people in public education, the literacy leader in a school often fills the responsibilities of both positions.

The primary roles of a literacy coach are usually centered around the culture of literacy in the school, the implementation of curriculum, data-driven instruction, and professional development. Literacy coaches are a link between teachers and administrators who often serve on leadership committees, child study meetings, and data or planning sessions. They lead professional development for teachers, attend conferences, and work to increase student literacy achievement across the school.

Their responsibilities range from leading weekly planning meetings with every grade level to hosting monthly book clubs for teachers. They implement the Family Literacy Month for their school and plan motivational literacy events for students throughout the school year. The oversee literacy diagnostics and assessments and analyze the student reading and writing data. The roles and responsibilities differ by school or district but at the end of the day, they are the same in that they revolve around creating classrooms to support literacy success.

Literacy Coach Requirements: Skills

The skills required for a literacy coach are similar to the requirements of an excellent teacher or principal. Patience, leadership skills, creativity, organization, and resourcefulness are essential to thrive in this role. Good time management skills, scheduling, data management and analysis are also important skills for a literacy coach to embody.

Strong communication skills and building solid relationships give literacy coaches the advantage they need to create positive change in a school community. Lastly, literacy coaches with adaptability, flexibility, and vision are able to make lasting impact in schools and districts in reading and writing instruction for readers of all ages.

Literacy Coach Requirements: Education

While there are elementary school literacy coaches around the country who never taught elementary school, I believe that the best literacy coaches are former classroom teachers with background experience and knowledge. These individuals have an undergraduate degree specific to education and teaching and chose a graduate school that is strong in literacy and reading education.

While most districts today require a literacy coach to have a master’s degree in literacy and reading, some schools will consider hiring someone with a reading specialist endorsement. At the district level, some literacy coaches go on to earn their administration degree or a doctoral degree in literacy and even teach future literacy coaches at the college or university level.

Why Should You Consider a Literacy Coach Position?

When teachers earn a master’s degree in education, they automatically receive a salary increase. A literacy coach position not only provides the salary increase and benefits of teaching but also the opportunity to advance in a specific niche in education and become a literacy expert. Career opportunities open for literacy coaches including a literacy coach in a public, charter, or independent school or at the district level. Literacy coaches can also be hired as adjunct professors or selected as presenters for educational conferences.

One of the most imperative reasons to become a literacy coach is the opportunity to shape literacy development for the students, families, and teachers in your school community. A literacy coach has the capacity to change the trajectory of a failing or challenging school into a successful one for generations to come. Giving our youngest students in kindergarten to third grade the gift of literacy is huge. It is a lifelong gift that opens doors and creates opportunities for students throughout their educational and career path.

How to Become a Literacy Coach? 

Teachers with tenure or teachers with a good number of years of experience (at least three years to five years, depending on your district) are candidates to become a literacy coach. If you are interested in literacy coach jobs, be sure to research the specific steps in your city or state. Some states require a teaching license and others require passing a standardized state test. It is essential to determine which college or university near you or online offers and provides the best reading or literacy coach program.

Once you are accepted and enrolled in the program, you are on your way to becoming a literacy coach. Today, school districts around the country have partnered with local colleges and universities to create cohorts for literacy coaches to fill these desired positions.

A cohort makes the process of transitioning into this role much easier for a teacher who is working full-time while pursuing this next step. Find out if your district has plans to organize a cohort and apply today. You, too, can start the process of becoming a literacy coach and help teach the future, our students, to read.

Interested in the path to becoming a literacy coach? Check out our available reading and literacy graduate programs and get started today!

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The pandemic reminded the world how invaluable teachers, and in-person instruction are in literacy, especially for early readers. When we recognize there are advantages to using technology in teaching reading and writing for students of all ages, we understand that technology has a very important role in literacy development.

How Technology Can Be Used to Support Literacy Development 

Books remain the most powerful tool in the teaching of reading. A big advantage of technology is the wealth of access to books and educational resources for students and teachers. Curated book lists for parents and teachers to support students’ age, reading development, and interests are one-way technology can support the developmental reading journey for every child and young reader.

Online Catalog of Books

An online catalog of books to purchase and a database of books to read online are excellent technological advancements that schools have taken advantage of for student reading time in the classroom. E-books have become a popular choice of reading in the classroom since online reading is essential in American society today. Screen reading is a different experience for students and needs to be modeled and implemented for our young readers, especially since assessments are now online for students.

Social Networks

One of the best ways that technology can be used to support literacy development is when it promotes collaboration among educators and students. When social media and social networks are used positively, teachers can instantly connect with colleagues around the world to suggest a new book to read or share an effective writing lesson. Podcasts and blogs are popular in the educational industry because they connect experts in literacy directly to their target audience, in this case, teachers and reading specialists.

Applications

Applications including Google Slides, Google Docs, and Google Classroom were created to encourage collaboration among teachers and depending on the grade level, for students too. Students can work with partners to develop projects, book reports, or write assignments on these apps. Platforms including Padlet or Flipgrid were developed with the idea for classroom collaboration at the forefront of their design.

The pandemic also recognized how platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams can be used as interactive communication tool. While the pandemic also showed us that more students thrive with in-person instruction rather than online instruction, the video platforms are still used today when schools are closed for any reason from snow to power outages or illnesses. Video can be powerful when it comes to linking teachers, mentors, and literacy coaches in large school districts for meetings or professional development.

The Bureau of Education and Research has been able to maintain their excellence in literacy professional development by adding online seminars as an option for schools and districts around the country. Providing interactive learning experiences like this for teachers to increase their own literacy development is essential for student success in reading. When teachers can create an interactive learning experience with quality technology tools to increase engagement in literacy, students achieve reading success.

The Benefits of Using Technology in Literacy Instruction

More Engaging and Motivating

Technology is not only a factor in supporting teachers and students in the teaching and learning process. There are some benefits of using technology in literacy instruction. Literacy stations and collaborative work settings based around the usage of e-books, online phonics games, and incentivized online experiences can make literacy more engaging and motivating for students. The trick is to implement these options intermittently or for a set amount of time each day ranging from fifteen to twenty minutes. When elementary school students are on their screens for hours a day, which is seen in some schools around the country, the excitement decreases, which also decreases the intended engagement.

Personalized Learning Experiences

When technology can be used to provide personalized learning experiences that support a child’s strengths and challenges in reading and writing, the benefits can be observed. When teachers and school leaders can see how the literacy skills gained on educational technology are transferred into reading and writing development in small groups and whole group instruction, then the benefits are also evident.

Developing 21st-Century Skills

Finally, technology can help students develop 21st-century skills in order be competent and confident in their future career and college success. Technology’s role in literacy development should be embraced with caution and diligence with the sole purpose of helping students and teachers achieve literacy success.

Educators never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs  to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.

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Students in schools in the United States have been struggling in reading for a decade, but it is most evident post-pandemic. The deficits have been significantly highlighted through data and media. Sadly, children across the country continue to be passed on to the next grade level while reading below grade level. Research shows that children who are not reading on grade level by the end of third or fourth grade often struggle throughout their entire school career and often drop out of school. Supporting struggling readers as soon as they are identified is essential to ensure this does not continue.

Elementary school teachers must be equipped with the tools and techniques to use the research behind the science of reading to support all students, especially struggling readers. Teacher training, professional learning opportunities, and support for educators are essential in supporting all readers in every grade level. Every school should have a full-time reading specialist, interventionists, or reading tutors. It is qualified instructors, not programs, that truly help struggling readers thrive in literacy.

Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers

Motivation and engagement are essential factors in how to help struggling readers. Hooking a child to get a struggling reader excited about reading and matching them with the perfect book is just the first step. Direct instruction that includes the implementation of the five pillars of reading plus writing makes the most significant difference and greatest impact in supporting struggling readers.

The most common reason a child struggles in reading is because they have a lack of knowledge and understanding in either phonological awareness or the developmental phonics system. When teachers create literacy lessons emphasizing letter-sound relationships and phonemes in reading and writing, they are enabling struggling readers to become independent readers.

Early intervention is key. Data shows that children who struggle with phonological awareness in kindergarten and receive no intervention are usually still struggling in second and third grade. Fluency is also an essential strategy for supporting struggling readers. Rereading poems, decodable texts, and predictable texts effectively teaches this component. Even if a student is identified as a struggling reader, it is important to support their vocabulary development and comprehension of text by exploring their background knowledge and experiences as it relates to the texts.

Reading Strategies for Struggling Younger Students

It is important to note that reading is a developmental journey for each child, so the best and most effective reading strategies are not determined by the age of a student but by the reading competency level based on a variety of literacy assessments. For example, a middle school student who has just arrived in America or labeled as an English Language Learner would benefit from the same strategies often used for younger students.

For a five to seven-year-old child, however, who is on the designated correct developmental path of literacy instruction, the foundations of reading are critical for young readers. These are the basic language skills that focus on phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics.

It is important to provide students with direct instruction through both small group and whole group experiences on how oral language connects to the printed word and how reading correlates with writing. Using word sorts and analogy charts based on sounds, decodable texts, and Elkonin boxes daily will increase a young reader’s literacy success. Students should be able to identify the similarities and differences between words. They should be able to decode, encode, and talk about text. Once a child has the capability to decode and encode on their own, they will be successful in figuring out any multisyllabic word they encounter.

Reading Strategies for Struggling Older Students

We know that older students who are struggling in reading greatly benefit from the phonics work we emphasis with younger students. This gap in letter-sound relationships and encoding and decoding are often the main reasons they struggle. Older students should focus on putting together, taking apart, reading, and writing multisyllabic words. Another reason older students struggle is because of fluency, specifically in their number of words per minute. This is when reader’s theater, rereading of text, and timed reading helps increase fluency rates.

Lastly, comprehension is often the one pillar of reading that makes reading a struggle for older students. Using graphic organizers and visualization to understand text sections in fiction and nonfiction helps students to better comprehend. Research often links strong fluency to strong comprehension, but there are always exceptions when it comes to individual students reading behaviors. When we address both in tandem and separately according to the provided literacy data, we are providing the best reading instruction for older students.

When we implement effective reading strategies as soon as children enter school, we will help all children become successful rather than struggling readers across America.

Do you have a passion for reading and literacy instruction? Check out our reading and literacy graduate programs and advance your career today!

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Outsiders to the education profession need to be made aware that English teachers and reading teachers have the same job. Educators know the difference and understand the importance of both teaching positions in our schools. While English majors are often teaching literature and writing at the secondary level, teachers with a degree in reading or literacy are teaching children of all ages how to read. Unfortunately, due to the state of literacy in America for the past five to ten years, more students in secondary English classes are unable to read text on grade level.

Middle school and high school English teachers are seeking support in the teaching of reading and writing to their students. Earning a graduate degree to build upon current knowledge in teaching while increasing an understanding of current research and best practice is also beneficial for an English teacher today. A graduate program provides teachers with more resources, new books, and additional professional development opportunities to become an expert in your craft. This wealth of knowledge increases your credibility as an educator and can open more doors to higher level positions.

A higher salary range and access to a number of more opportunities in the field of education are both strong benefits for an English teacher to earn a graduate degree. In 2023, the salary of American public-school teachers is behind and often doesn’t keep up with the cost of living, inflation, or the salary of other industries. Teachers deserve to feel both valued and financially compensated in education, especially as they continue on their professional journey as life-long learners. When a school system offers financial support to take classes toward a graduate degree or offer a cohort for their teachers to receive a graduate degree at no cost to them, they are truly supporting continuing education.

Graduate Programs for English Teachers

Teachers can enroll in graduate programs to earn a master’s degree in reading and literacy to hone their research, writing, and text analysis and comprehension skills. Based on the current data in reading education, it would be very beneficial for English teachers to earn a master’s degree or doctoral degree in reading, language, linguistics, or literacy. Getting a reading endorsement or reading specialist degree is also a valuable option since we need so many qualified reading specialists in schools.

In fact, to feel the need, school districts are implementing cohorts with local colleges and universities for teachers to conveniently earn their master’s degree in literacy education to fill these vast openings. Through this opportunity, teachers can accelerate their own learning without having to pay a dime out of pocket themselves.

If a cohort is not an option today in your current school district, there are a number of online programs that offer master’s degrees and doctoral degrees in reading or literacy. Online programs are popular for educators since they are designed for teachers and offer courses during after school and evening hours. A large component of many of these online programs includes the opportunity to shadow and work with a reading specialist in the position for a certain number of hours similar to a partnership or internship. Plenty of colleges and universities around the country offer in-person and hybrid models to allow full-time English teachers to earn a graduate degree in the evening and on the weekend.

Each state has their own list of recommendations for the best programs to earn a master’s degree in literacy or reading education. While the research behind the science of reading is 40 years old, it is new to many elementary school classroom teachers around the country. Therefore, some programs in higher education highlighting how their graduate degrees in literacy focus on the science of reading.

Intelligent.com compared 267 education programs to determine which master’s in reading and literacy degree programs are the best in faculty, cohort, and by region. Since time management is a critical factor for educators to determine when they can balance a full-time job as an English teacher and pursuing a graduate degree, the website ranked an accelerated program as the best.

No matter where you are teaching English in the classroom today, a graduate program with a master’s degree in English, reading, or literacy awaits you and so does the opportunity to become a reading teacher or literacy specialist. And we need you.

Do you have a passion for reading and literacy instruction? Check out our reading and literacy graduate programs and advance your career today! 

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While the United States is considered the most powerful and one of the most technological advanced countries in the world, it is not the most literate country in the world. In fact, the United States has struggled in literacy for students and adults alike for the last decade. There have even been recent court cases in America debating whether literacy should be a right.

In 2019, the NAEP reported that only 37% of nine-year-old children in America were reading on grade level. The percentage drops down to 22% in low-income areas. ProLiteracy, a nonprofit organization, reported that 43 million adults in America can’t read above a third-grade level. While literacy has been an issue for a while now, post-pandemic data and national media attention have clearly indicated that we are now in a literacy crisis.

Every school district in the country was responsible for developing their own plans to deliver instruction to K-12 students during a global pandemic. Some schools stayed virtual for 14 months, some ran a hybrid model of instruction for students, and other schools opened in-person as soon as the 2020-2021 school year began. The disparity of instructional practice during this unprecedented event yielded various learning outcomes.

This fall, the NAEP reported that reading scores declined by five points from 2020-2022, the largest drop in scores in thirty years. McKinsey & Company completed an analysis that determined that the pandemic left children, on average four months behind in reading. The gaps have also widened between historically disadvantaged students and students of color.

How to Combat the Challenges of Literacy 

Students currently in second grade and above are still experiencing the effects of unfinished learning in literacy caused by the global pandemic. Classroom teachers, reading specialists, and interventionists are working to combat these challenges in literacy daily. Schools are seeking certified reading specialists to help teachers, students, and retired teachers willing to become reading tutors for identified students.

Six states and New York City have designed state literacy plans to combat literacy challenges in their K-12 schools for their school districts to implement and execute. These plans are often citing the science of reading as their instructional practice. The science of reading is not new information in education. This research-based approach to teaching reading has existed for decades and used by reading specialists to help reluctant and struggling readers become successful, independent readers. It focuses on the foundations of reading and the five pillars of reading that are essential in every literacy lesson to achieve reading success.

Unless a teacher earns a master’s degree in literacy or obtains a reading certification, the science of reading is not part of undergraduate teaching programs. Currently, district literacy coaches and curriculum coordinators are providing professional development in schools on the subject matter. Recommended relevant reading resources, including A Touchdown in Reading: An Educator’s Guide to Literacy Instruction published by Creative Minds Publications, are helping teachers around the country understand the literacy while increasing reading rates and literacy success.

The Future of Literacy 

If we want the United States to become and maintain a highly literate country, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Elementary school teachers have been asked what they want literacy instruction and student literacy to look like in the future. Responses include that all children read on grade level, a literature-rich school exists, and that kids are excited about reading.

They want a quality school library, increased family literacy engagement, engaging literacy lesson plans, more qualified reading interventionists, and all of the materials and manipulatives needed to teach effective reading instruction. We should not have to wait any longer to make these wishes to become a reality. All of these things can and should begin today for every single teacher and student in America.

We need to improve teacher preparation in literacy in undergraduate programs in education at the college and university level. We also need to provide more differentiated support and personalized literacy consulting for new teachers. Anyone with zero to five years of experience should be considered a new teacher, especially if they started teaching during the pandemic.

In addition to implementing the science of reading and best literacy practices to raise the U.S. literacy rate, we need to understand that motivation, background knowledge, and a culturally diverse classroom library are also essential factors in the teaching of reading. We need to recognize that we need to focus on strategies for teaching children to read instead of programs to teach children to read.

A high level of early literacy skills is a strong indicator for students’ reading success in third grade and beyond. Therefore, we need to put our strongest literacy instructors in kindergarten, first, and second grade where the foundations of reading are taught. Research shows that students who are not reading on grade level by third grade were four times more likely to drop out of school. We need to put more financial support in elementary school literacy instruction to prevent this from happening. Further literacy support is essential.

Reading is a life skill and the one content area necessary to succeed in all subject areas, including math, science, and technology. The United States needs to emphasize reading education to become a powerful country in literacy, education, and the preparation of our students, the future leaders of America.

Have a passion for reading instruction in today’s schools? Check out our reading and literacy graduate programs today!

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Teaching young children how to read and write is historically a hands-on practice and involves the manipulation of letter tiles, forming shapes and letters, and face-to-face remediation. Vocabulary instruction and comprehension also traditionally take place in person.

As the pandemic has changed traditional practices, colleges are changing what they offer within their literacy education degrees. Many graduate programs, including those related to literacy, such as a master’s degree in reading and literacy or doctorate in reading and literacy, have changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some programs, for example, have expanded their course offerings, tweaked their course content, and moved more toward an online approach.

Expansion of Course Offerings

One of the most notable changes in graduate literacy programs due to the pandemic is the expansion of course offerings. According to McKinsey and Company, data shows that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students in grades K-12 on student learning left students behind by an average of five months.

The pandemic widened achievement gaps all over the country, creating a need for change in college courses that prepare educators to help bridge the gap. Furthermore, federal funds are available to help fund response to intervention in schools. Some colleges may use these funds to expand their course offerings.

Such courses might include:

• Learning Loss
• Remote Transition
• Best Practices in Online Instruction

Instructions in higher education are planning for continued uncertainty due to the pandemic. They are also concerned about any future natural disasters or crises that might arise. Several faculty have expressed a need to supplement online learning strategies for online learning and help educators be both effective and engaging during online learning. Courses regarding online learning are designed to help students transition in and out of the classroom, analyze student perceptions and online learning, evaluate the usefulness of online instruction, and plan quality lessons that can be taught in-person and online.

Change in Course Content

Many online graduate literacy programs have specifically changed content due to the pandemic. For example, some course content reflects the literacy need for students due to the pandemic and how teachers can adapt instruction to meet the needs of students. Many students in public schools are far behind grade-level expectations because they have missed a year or more of in-person learning. This means that teachers need tools to help students grow exponentially in reading and get back on track.

Many graduate literacy programs incorporate some form of response to intervention. Additionally, many graduate literacy courses teach their adult students how to best provide students with a hybrid of online and in person learning, should the need arise due to the recent pandemic and future occurrences of online instructional needs.

Themes that are often present in the expansion of course content include:

• Knowing the students you teach
• Having a variety of resources available to teach online/hybrid reading instruction
• Selecting appropriate tools for online and in-person learning
• Organizing and communicating expectations
• Providing literacy intervention
• Analyzing student needs and differentiating appropriately
• Providing quality feedback

Online/Hybrid Courses

According to an article published by Harvard Business Review, the move toward online graduate courses is long overdue. The article reports that even pre-pandemic, students wished for higher education to provide students with a more online and hybrid college experience. This is especially true for students who are already participating in the workforce. The option of having online courses available is undoubtedly more appealing to those already working because it allows for students to participate and work simultaneously.

Considering the changes that the pandemic has brought, potential graduate students need to understand what programs are available so that they can select the right graduate program. As educators continue to navigate the ever-changing needs of students, they need to have access to tools that will help students grow through the pandemic.

Ready to impact students through reading? Explore our available reading and literacy programs and start your next journey today!

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What is a Master’s in Literacy?

A master’s degree in literacy covers a broad range of knowledge. This degree prepares you to meet the literary challenges that students face today and will face in the future. Many programs provide content such as; new technology-based literacy programs and strategies, tools and strategies for how to assess areas of need, tools and strategies to address areas of need, and ways to coach colleagues on meeting the literary needs of students.

Programs for earning a master’s in literacy often include relevant coursework that will incorporate best practices in literacy instruction and development for grades K-12. This coursework is often focused on all aspects of literacy including: exceptional learners, reading intervention, and how to incorporate literacy across all curricular areas.

The curriculum in literacy and language master’s programs are not all alike, however; curriculum typically addresses how people learn to communicate and read, research on reading instruction, learning challenges like Dyslexia, social disparities in literacy, and assistive technology in literacy learning. Courses such as children’s literature, literacy assessment and intervention, and reading difficulties are often present in master’s of literacy programs. These courses help prepare the learner to meet students where they are and grow them as readers and communicators.

Reasons to Get a Master’s in Literacy

There are many reasons one might acquire a master’s in literacy. Firstly, literacy specialist positions will likely always be in demand. Literacy in schools is essential to ensuring students meet reading and literacy goals set both federally and locally. For this reason, reading and literacy specialists are in high demand in the job market overall. Both private and public schools need reading support. The job of a literacy specialist is important and rewarding and can be found throughout kindergarten all the way to high school. With qualifications such as a master’s in literacy, you will be able to help students meet reading goals and help prepare students for the literary skills they will need for the rest of their lives.

Additionally, obtaining a master’s in literacy offers a wide variety of job opportunities. Some of these include, but are not limited to;

• Reading specialist – elementary
• Reading specialist- middle/high
• Adult reading instruction
• English instructor at the community college level
• Instructional coaching
• Title I specialist
• Educational writer

Benefits of a Degree in Literacy

Not only does obtaining a master’s in literacy open the door to new career opportunities, it also opens the door to an increase in salary. According to the Center for American Progress, a master’s degree can result in a pay increase for teachers ranging between $1,423 to $10,777 annually. The median pay raise is $5,192. This type of pay increase can be very appealing.

A master’s degree in literacy can also qualify you for jobs that just a bachelor’s degree would not allow you to do. Many positions such as instructional coaching and Title 1 specialists require experience in education and a master’s degree in an educational area. Obtaining a master’s in literacy qualifies you for these types of jobs.

A position as a reading specialist may be the most common type of position that educators with a master’s in literacy attain. Becoming a reading specialist can be beneficial in many ways. The role is similar from school to school and includes working one-on-one or with small groups of students who have difficulty reading on grade level. Furthermore, the specialist provides intervention for students that are struggling and assists colleagues in doing the same. Those that are in this position have the opportunity to impact many students.

Even if you are not interested in changing jobs or bumping up your pay, earning a master’s in literacy will expand your knowledge of literacy and how to teach it in a way that will meet the needs of diverse learners. Educators that enter said programs often find interest in exploring new grade levels. For example, elementary educators that participate in a master’s in literacy program will have the opportunity to learn about literacy from a middle and high school perspective, thus giving them an idea of what they are preparing their elementary students for in the future.

In turn, middle and high school educators get the opportunity to see where students get their foundational reading skills and better understand how to bridge the gaps that remain open for students that never received the intervention needed. Additionally, throughout the completion of a master’s in literacy program, you will develop research skills and intervention skills that can be applied at the classroom level. You will become an expert on literacy and how to apply your skills in whatever position you are in.

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