Reading Professional Development Teaching Reading Process and Strategies

Funding Options Title I Title IIA Title III 21st Century Smaller Learning Communities Special Education Comprehensive School Reform Private Funding

Read Up! workshops are offered as open enrollment workshops in various locations around the country and as on-site workshops that can be held at your school or district.

Research

Teacher quality is one of the most important factors influencing student achievement and it can be improved by education, certification, and professional development (Darling-Hammond, 2000). “The art of teaching is the art of continuing to learn. Teachers are the most important learners in the classroom” (Graves, 1994). Despite the evidence that teaching strategies and teacher knowledge have a direct impact on what students learn, “a surprising number of teachers have not been fully prepared in the subject areas they teach, an even greater number have not had adequate preparation in teaching strategies and methods” (Darling-Hammond, 1997). In a study funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement on teacher quality and student achievement, the findings “suggest that states interested in improving student achievement may be well-advised to attend, at least in part, to the preparation and qualifications of the teachers they hire and retain in the profession. It stands to reason that student learning should be enhanced by the efforts of teachers who are more knowledgeable in their field and are skillful at teaching it to others” (Darling-Hammond, 2000).

Current research shows that good reading is strategic reading: successful readers use a variety of strategies to construct the meaning of the text (Pearson, Roehler, Dole, and Duffy, 1992). Reading is an essential learning tool in all subject areas. Read Up! workshops model, teach, and practice the tools and strategies your students need to succeed. Read Up! training is ideal for teachers of all subject areas who want to improve not only students’ performance on reading assessments, but also students’ overall academic achievement. The reading skills and strategies teachers learn during a Read Up! workshop can support the teaching of reading across the curriculum.

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