(b) To receive approval,
a GaPSC-approved educator preparation provider shall offer a preparation
program described in program planning forms, catalogs, and syllabi addressing
the following standards for the preparation of teachers adapted from the
International Dyslexia Association (2018).
1.
Foundations of Literacy Acquisition. Programs shall
prepare candidates who are able to:
(i)
Understand the five (5) language processing requirements of proficient reading
and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and
discourse;
(ii) Understand that
learning to read, for most people, requires explicit instruction;
(iii) Understand the reciprocal relationships
among phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary
knowledge;
(iv) Identify and
explain aspects of cognition and behavior that affect reading and writing
development;
(v) Identify (and
explain how) environmental, cultural, and social factors contribute to literacy
development;
(vi) Explain major
research findings regarding the contribution of linguistic and cognitive
factors to the prediction of literacy outcomes;
(vii) Understand the most common intrinsic
differences between good and poor readers (i.e., linguistic, cognitive, and
neurobiological);
(viii) Know
phases in the typical developmental progression of oral language, phonemic
awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading
fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression; and
(ix) Understand the changing relations among
the major components of literacy development in accounting for reading
achievement.
2.
Knowledge of Varied Reading Profiles, Including
Dyslexia. Programs shall prepare candidates who are able to:
(i) Recognize the tenets of the (2003)
International Dyslexia Association definition of dyslexia, or any accepted
revisions thereof;
(ii) Know
fundamental provisions of federal and state laws that pertain to learning
disabilities, including dyslexia and other reading and language disability
subtypes;
(iii) Identify the
distinguishing characteristics of dyslexia and other language difficulties
including expressive and receptive language;
(iv) Understand how reading disabilities vary
in presentation and degree; and
(v)
Understand how and why symptoms of reading difficulty are likely to change over
time in response to development and instruction.
3.
Assessments.
Programs shall prepare candidates who are able to:
(i) Understand the differences among and
purposes for screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic and outcome
assessments;
(ii) Understand basic
principles of test construction and formats (e.g., reliability, validity,
criterion, normed);
(iii) Interpret
basic statistics commonly utilized in formal and informal
assessments;
(iv) Know and utilize
in practice well-validated screen tests designed to identify students at risk
for reading difficulties;
(v)
Understand and apply the principles of progress monitoring and reporting with
Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) including graphing techniques;
(vi) Know and utilize in practice informal
diagnostic surveys of phonological and phonemic awareness, decoding skills,
oral reading fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing;
(vii) Know how to read and interpret the most
common diagnostic tests used by psychologists, speech-language pathologists,
and education evaluators;
(viii)
Integrate, summarize, and communicate (orally and in writing) the meanings of
educational assessment data for sharing; and
(ix) Understand the developmental aspects of
reading abilities and how they impact the purpose of assessment, the areas of
literacy that should be focused upon, and the interpretation of assessment
results.
4.
Structured Literacy Instruction. Programs shall
prepare candidates who demonstrate an understanding of:
(i) The essential principles and practices of
structured literacy instruction, as indicated by the following:
(I) Understand and apply in practice the
general principles and practices of structured language and literacy teaching,
including explicit, systematic, cumulative, and teacher-directed;
(II) Understand and apply in practice the
rationales for multisensory and multimodal language-learning techniques;
and
(III) Understand the rationale
for and adapt instruction to accommodate individual differences in cognitive,
linguistic, sociocultural, and behavioral aspects of learning.
(ii) Phonological and phonemic
awareness, as indicated by the following:
(I)
Understand the rationale for and identify, pronounce, classify, and compare all
the consonant phonemes and all vowel phonemes of English;
(II) Understand and apply in practice
considerations for levels of phonological sensitivity;
(III) Understand and apply in practice
considerations for phonemic awareness difficulties;
(IV) Know and apply in practice consideration
for the progression of phonemic awareness skill development, across age and
grade;
(V) Know and apply in
practice considerations for the general and specific goals of phonemic
awareness instruction;
(VI) Know
and apply in practice considerations for the principles of phonemic awareness
instruction: brief, multisensory, conceptual, articulatory and auditory verbal;
and
(VII) Know and apply in
practice considerations for the utility of print and online resources for
obtaining information about languages other than English.
(iii) Phonics and word recognition, as
indicated by the following:
(I) Know and apply
in practice considerations for the structure of English orthography and the
patterns and rules that inform the teaching of single-and multisyllabic regular
word reading;
(II) Know and apply
in practice considerations for systematically, cumulatively, and explicitly
teaching basic decoding and spelling skills;
(III) Know and apply in practice
considerations for organizing word recognition and spelling lessons by
following a structured phonics lesson plan;
(IV) Know and apply in practice
considerations for using multisensory routines to enhance student engagement
and memory;
(V) Know and apply in
practice considerations for adapting instruction for students with weaknesses
in working memory, attention, executive function, or processing
speed;
(VI) Know and apply in
practice considerations for teaching irregular words in small increments using
special techniques;
(VII) Know and
apply in practice considerations for systematically teaching the decoding of
multisyllabic words; and
(VIII)
Know and apply in practice considerations for the different types and purposes
of texts.
(iv) Automatic,
fluent reading of text as indicated by the following:
(I) Know and apply in practice considerations
for the role of fluent word-level skills in automatic word reading, oral
reading fluency, reading comprehension, and motivation to read;
(II) Know and apply in practice
considerations for varied techniques and methods for building reading
fluency;
(III) Know and apply in
practice considerations for text reading fluency as an achievement of normal
reading development that can be advanced through informed instruction and
progress-monitoring practices; and
(IV) Know and apply in practice
considerations for appropriate uses of assistive technology for students with
serious limitations in reading fluency.
(v) Vocabulary, as indicated by the
following:
(I) Know and apply in practice
considerations for the role of vocabulary development and vocabulary knowledge
in oral and written language comprehension;
(II) Know and apply in practice
considerations for the sources of wide differences in students'
vocabularies;
(III) Know and apply
in practice considerations for the role and characteristics of indirect
(contextual) methods of vocabulary instruction; and
(IV) Know and apply in practice
considerations for the role and characteristics of direct, explicit methods of
vocabulary instruction.
(vi) Listening and reading comprehension, as
indicated by the following:
(I) Know and apply
in practice considerations for factors that contribute to deep
comprehension;
(II) Know and apply
in practice considerations for instructional routines appropriate for each
major genre: informational text, narrative text, and argumentation;
(III) Know and apply in practice
considerations for the role of sentence comprehension in listening and reading
comprehension;
(IV) Know and apply
in practice considerations for the use of explicit comprehension strategy
instruction, as supported by research; and
(V) Know and apply in practice considerations
for the teacher's role as an active mediator of text-comprehension
processes.
(vii) Written
expression, as indicated by the following:
(I)
Understand the major skill domains that contribute to written
expression;
(II) Know and apply in
practice considerations for research-based principles for teaching letter
formation, both manuscript and cursive;
(III) Know and apply in practice
considerations for research-based principles for teaching written spelling and
punctuation;
(IV) Know and apply in
practice considerations for the developmental phases of the writing process;
and
(V) Know and apply in practice
considerations for the appropriate uses of assistive technology in written
expression.
5.
Professional Dispositions and Practices. Programs
shall prepare candidates who:
(i) Establish
and maintain collaborative relationships with relevant professionals (e.g.,
speech-language pathologist, school psychologist, curriculum specialist)
providing intervention to individuals with dyslexia;
(ii) Strive to do no harm and to act in the
best interests of struggling readers and readers with dyslexia and related
language based learning disabilities;
(iii) Maintain the public trust by providing
accurate information about currently accepted and evidence-based best practices
in the field;
(iv) Avoid
misrepresentation of the efficacy of educational or other treatments or the
proof for or against those treatments;
(v) Respect objectivity by reporting
assessment and treatment results accurately, and truthfully;
(vi) Support responsive treatment of
individuals with dyslexia and related language-based learning
disabilities;
(vii) Respect
confidentiality of students or clients; and
(viii) Respect the intellectual property of
others.