Undergraduate Reading Endorsement Program



Educator Preparation for Achievement in Reading

History:

The Center for Quality Teaching and Learning sponsors the CSU College of Education’s Undergraduate Reading Endorsement Program. The Program, more commonly known as "E-Prep" (Educator Preparation for Achievement in Reading), is an outgrowth of the COE’s September 2003, Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant. This 1.5 million dollar grant funded through Title II Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act: No Child Left Behind, 2001 made it possible to implement the Promise of Teacher Quality Project (PTQ Project). The PTQ Project was a three-year research and development initiative designed to discover how uses of modern technologies, professional development, and research-based reading methods could be optimized to improve reading attainment in West Central Georgia and beyond. Over a four-year period between 2003 and 2007, the PTQ Project, in collaboration with many Georgia schools, produced compelling findings that draw promising correlations between improved instruction (teacher practice) and student achievement (reading attainment).

A Scientific Report of Success:

The Educator Preparation for Achievement in Reading (E-Prep) Program was delivered and evaluated as one component of the Promise of Teacher Quality Project between 2003 and 2007. Schools selected for participation in the E-Prep Program demonstrated a strong commitment to dramatically improving reading achievement. Teacher cohorts, which included all teachers of the school’s pre-kindergarten to third grade students, enrolled for participation in one full year of academic coursework that included five face-to-face meetings (35 hours), asynchronous coursework (40 hours), and practical application of evidence-based practices in the educator’s own classroom with reading students (50 hours). Observation data was collected to quantify the impact of the coursework on the teacher’s classroom practice. Student achievement data in five areas of reading proficiency was measured formatively three times during an academic year. The Georgia Criterion Reference Test and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills were used as summative measures of student reading improvement. To read the entire evaluation report, link to A Scientific Report of Success: Educator Preparation for Achievement in Reading (E-Prep) – A Research-Based Professional Learning Program.

Program Description:

The College of Education’s Undergraduate Reading Endorsement Program (E-Prep) is a non-traditional outreach to elementary and primary schools that makes school-wide commitment to improve student reading achievement. The Program is school-based and delivered to certified teachers exclusively at the request of cooperating principals. It is not available as a course offering for individual students pursuing an undergraduate degree. Schools chosen to participate in the E-Prep Program will register cohorts of pre-kindergarten – third grade teachers, special educators, school administrators, and certified support professionals for participation in (9) academic credit hours to qualify candidates for a Reading Endorsement awarded through the College of Education and accepted by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. Occasionally, schools may elect to participate in the E-Prep Program for Professional Learning Credit. This option obligates cohorts of educators to 100+ contact hours of coursework earning a minimum of 10 Professional Learning Units (10 PLUs) through the CSU Center for Quality Teaching and Learning.

• EDCI 5555U Assessment Guides Teaching for Meaning (1 CR)
• EDCI 5555U Phonics Builds Capacity for Meaning ( 2 CR)
• EDCI 5555U Vocabulary Expands Meaning (2 CR)
• EDCI 5555U Text Comprehension is Meaning (2 CR)
• EDCI 5555U Fluency Enhances Capacity for Meaning (2 CR)