READING INSTITUTE

Professional Developments in Reading

Our professional development efforts in Reading at the School of Education include three main components:

  • Workshops on multi-level, research-based reading practices for diverse classrooms
    (including preparation for the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test)
  • Workshops on strategies for helping struggling readers
  • A Summer Reading Institute: Best Practices for Teaching Reading

Professional Development Workshops

  1. Over the past several years, Flamingo Elementary and Kensington Park Elementary teachers have participated in intensive professional development in reading. They have learned four instructional practices that promote gains in reading for students from a wide range of achievement levels:
    • Phonological Awareness
    • Partner Reading
    • Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)
    • Making Words

    Through Project SUCCEED we provide professional development workshops and follow-up support for teachers at our Professional Development Schools interested in learning these “best practices.” CSR workshops include a component that addresses how to improve students’ reading scores on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) because our Professional Development Schools have requested such a focus.
  2. Another professional development component teaches strategies for working with struggling readers, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Ponce de Leon Middle School has requested such an emphasis. The University of Miami graduate students in the Reading and Learning Disabilities Master’s and Specialist’s programs will participate in an on-site Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading Disabilities course, and tutor Ponce de Leon students after school.
  3. A Summer Reading Institute: Best Practices for Teaching Reading has been designed collaboratively by faculty in the School of Education (Jeanne Schumm and Harry Forgan), a Language Arts/Reading Instructional Supervisor from the Miami-Dade College Public Schools, and Reading Specialists from M-DCPS.

Description of Summer Reading Institute

The purpose of this Summer Institute is to prepare educators in Miami-Dade County to implement research based instructional practices for general education classrooms. This Summer Institute will focus on FCAT preparation in conjunction with the M-DCPS Comprehensive Reading Plan, with cultural and linguistic diversity as a theme. The instructional practices are those that have been included in workshops conducted by faculty members at the University of Miami and by experts in reading instruction from around the country. The sessions are patterned after the Zelda Glazer Writing Institute. The intent is to develop leaders who will implement the practices at school sites and will serve as facilators at their schools.

Objectives

The major objectives of the Reading Institute are to enable teachers to:

  • renew personal interest in reading and the values of reading
  • evaluate their reading/language arts program to identify strengths and weaknesses
  • develop in-depth knowledge of “best practices” in reading
  • provide for the linguistic and cultural differences of students and their families
  • organize materials and a plan for implementation of “best practices”

Schedule-Fact Sheet

Dates and Times

June 06–17 Monday through Friday

8:00 A.M. – Sessions begin
3:00 P.M. – Sessions end

Prompt arrival, active participation, and perfect attendance are required! If you have to miss one day, you should not apply.

Place

West Laboratory Elementary School on the University of Miami Campus. You can park in the parking lot by West Lab.

Groups

The 100 participants will be divided into groups based on grade level: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Sometimes all participants will meet together to enjoy special speakers

Requirements

Requirements will be discussed in detail the first day. In general you can plan on:

  • participating actively during the 8-3 sessions.

  • reading some professional literature in the evenings.
A formal examination will not be administered; however, your progress will be evaluated and you will make plans to implement the ideas appropriate for your school setting. Learning will be enjoyable as you reflect on your journey as a reader!

First Class

During the first class you will be asked to introduce yourself. Please bring a “Me Bag” with 4-5 items that you can share to enable your colleagues to get to know you.

Lunch

11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. each day. There are some fast food restaurants on campus. You are welcome to bring your lunch, too. On June 25, a special celebration luncheon will be held.

Credit

You can earn three semester hours of graduate credits from the University of Miami. Registration will take place at West Laboratory School on June 16.

Directions for Applying to the 2005 Reading Institute

Please read all the information on the Directions for Applying to the 2005 Reading Institute page. Eligibility, deadlines and important dates are some of the important information found in the page.

Contact Information

University of Miami
School of Education
Project SUCCEED
305-284-2213

Reading Institute 2005 Application

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2003 Reading Summer Institute Slideshow