What is a Reading Specialist Degree?
Teaching students to read is a complex process. Reading instruction involves so many parts that come together in hopes of creating a successful reader. Reading instruction includes phonics, comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and spelling. Oftentimes, students struggle with becoming successful readers and need intervention in reading development.
Reading specialists play an important role in working with teachers and students to help develop reading skills. Reading specialists participate in a variety of tasks often including: working with students one-on-one, working with small groups of students, sharing resources with families and teachers, providing interventions to students, and serving as a reading expert to colleagues.
In general, an advanced degree in reading covers a variety of content. Due to the complexity of teaching students to read, reading specialist programs cover a variety of content. Programs usually focus on the understanding of research-based literacy practices, assessments, and interventions. Programs also tend to cover relevant and quality literature, as well as, digital literacy.
Students participating in reading specialist programs will learn enhanced reading skills that will enable them to work with small groups of students or one-on-one with students that are experiencing difficulties in reading. Courses offered help strengthen the participants ability to identify deficits and create intervention plans for students who need help. The courses offered are meant to strengthen reading instruction and participant capacity regarding the reading process. Courses often include, but are not limited to:
- Foundations of Literacy
- Reading and Writing Content
- Children’s Literature
- Literacy Assessment
- Reading Specialist Roles
- Content Area Instruction
- Research Methodology
- Reading Specialist Practicum
Such courses ensure that reading specialists are considered experts in the area of reading instruction and are depended upon in many schools and districts to help improve reading achievement. Their responsibilities may include teaching, coaching, co-teaching, or leading school-wide reading programs. They serve as a human resource in the area of reading and writing and support teachers, students, and the community in their efforts to improve reading.
They also work collaboratively with other professionals in their district to implement reading programs for students in need and to advocate for struggling readers. Reading specialists are able to use the knowledge they gain from their advanced degree to provide struggling readers with intense reading intervention. In short, they are the reading gurus of their schools and districts.
How Does it Differ from a Literacy Degree?
A degree in literacy differs somewhat from a reading specialist degree. A master’s in literacy covers a broad range of knowledge. It prepares educators to meet literary challenges faced by students and incorporates tools and strategies for aiding students in need. 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, social disparities, and assistive technology. Courses like children’s literature, literacy assessment and intervention, and reading difficulties are often part of literacy programs. These courses help prepare the learner to meet students where they are and grow them as readers and communicators.
Similar to earning a reading specialist degree, graduating with a master’s in literacy gives the graduate an understanding of how people learn to read and communicate. Courses such as Reading Foundations and Literacy Development are often covered in both programs. A reading specialist degree, however, focuses a big portion of its content on addressing reading difficulties of students and how to apply interventions to remedy reading problems.
What makes a reading specialist degree unique is the ability of a graduate from this program to plan, teach, and evaluate instruction for students who are having difficulty with reading and/or writing. These graduates have the tools to work with students in grades K-12 who are struggling and to help get them on track.
What are the Benefits of a Reading Specialist Degree?
The benefits of earning a reading specialist degree are many. Firstly, those who graduate with a reading specialist degree get to see the benefits of their degree first hand as they help struggling readers become successful. Being able to read is a process that doesn’t always come easy to children. These children need solid instruction. Being able to provide that solid instruction serves as an intrinsic motivator to educators.
Additionally, this type of degree allows graduates to support teachers in a way they previously weren’t able to by supplementing and extending the classroom teacher’s reading instruction. Furthermore, a reading specialist gets the opportunity to provide resources and leadership to the school as a whole. This can happen in a variety of ways such as planning and implementing Title I events to get the community and students involved, diagnosing and troubleshooting reading issues, encouraging and motivating students to read, meeting with teachers during common planning to help differentiate instruction, and leading professional development in the area of reading.
Additionally, educators who earn an advanced degree as a reading specialist have the opportunity to seek new professional goals and placements. This can lead to a bump in salary and an opportunity to become an educational leader. Even if an educator decides to remain in the classroom after earning a reading specialist master’s, most districts award a salary increase to employees who earn an advanced degree. Those who earn a master’s in this area can also seek a job as a Title I reading teacher which can be a stepping stone from the classroom into a leadership position.
