Master’s in Literacy Education (Reading Teachers)

The Master’s Degree Program in Literacy Education is dedicated to the preparation of certified teachers to become literacy teachers – Birth- 6th grade – who are scholar-practitioners ready for a future of challenges and opportunities in teaching, reading and writing in public and private schools.

The curriculum of the Master’s Program in Literacy Education is intended to reflect the philosophy, purpose, and objectives of the education division. The students’ course of study has been carefully planned to provide graduate students with a strong theoretical foundation and are epistemologically interdisciplinary. The course work provides them with the opportunity to explore the cultural historical perspectives of literacy; literacy learning and pedagogies practice. Graduate students engage in the critical explorations of: [1] literacy practices in schools; [2] local and vernacular literacy’s of families and communities; and [3]the relationship between literacy and difference, including issues such as social class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, poverty, language of origin and disability. This work builds on the understanding that all students bring a rich language and literacy background to school that serves as a resource for all learning.

After several intensive literacy courses, students begin to apply their knowledge of literacy process, assessment, and instructional strategies as they work with individual students from local schools with specific literacy needs. It is during this segment of their studies when students begin developing comprehensive diagnostic literacy profiles crafted in order to meet the diverse needs of their students. As a culmination of the Literacy Education Program, graduate students take a comprehensive exam administered during their final course work and then begin their work in the Southampton Summer Literacy Clinic.