Our willingness to nurture a

child’s mind matters. We

must give our all to the diffi-

cult task of teaching and of

promoting literacy. The

M.Ed. in Reading program

continues to be a place

where elementary teachers

can deepen their competen-

cies and reflective teaching.

We open our arms wider to

welcome teachers of adoles-

cents and low-literate adults.

Join us and spread the word.

With hope,

B. P. Laster

We were talking in my office.

A fourth grade teacher said,

“I have several students who

are not yet fluent readers.

They have had intensive

phonics instruction for five

years and my principal wants

me to continue to do the

same thing….but it is not

working.” My questions,

“Why would you set those

students up for more failure?

What other cueing systems

besides phonics might work

for these students? What

research can you hand your

principal about literacy devel-

opment, especially for young

adolescents?”

As stated on January 20 by

our new President, “Our

ideals will not be given up for

expediency’s sake… Our

schools fail too many… there

is work to be done!”

We hope that stale teaching

will no longer go unchal-

lenged. We will transform

our classrooms and schools

to allow inventive minds to

thrive. Vibrant teaching must

be lauded and appreciated by

colleagues and administrators.

MONDAY, MARCH 9th

Registration begins for

Summer 2009. You must

have prior permission to

register for REED 626 &

726 (Internships) and

REED 729 (Seminar).

SUMMER ELECTIVES

REED 632: Word Study

REED 660: Integrating Literacy &

Technology

REED 710: Multicultural Literature

REED 740: Grant Writing in Educa-

tion

Barbara Laster, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Graduate

Reading Programs

LETTER FROM OUR DIRELETTER FROM OUR DIRELETTER FROM OUR DIRELETTER FROM OUR DIRECTORCTORCTORCTOR

A L S O I N

T H I S I S S U E :

Recent REED

Graduates

2

Summer ‘09

Schedule

3

Fall ‘09

Schedule

4

Employment

Opportunity

6

Portfolio

Requirements

7

REED Faculty

Contact Info

8

G E T R E A DY F O R S U M M E R !

SPRING 2009 NEWSLETTERSPRING 2009 NEWSLETTERSPRING 2009 NEWSLETTERSPRING 2009 NEWSLETTER

Graduate Reading ProgramsGraduate Reading ProgramsGraduate Reading ProgramsGraduate Reading Programs M A R C H 2 0 0 9 T O W S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

• Study Abroad

in Portugal

for Summer

2009

• Apply now

for the Mary-

land Writing

Project’s

Invitational

Summer In-

stitute

P A G E 2

New site this year

at the HEAT

Center in Harford

County

The Maryland Writing Project’s Invitational Summer Institute

Dr. Pat McCarthy: Assessing with the Qualitative Reading Inventory

Congratulations to Our Fall 2008 Graduates!

Rachel Andes

Laura Bethke

Margot Chaffee

Darlene Conerly

Trista Davis

Kelley Fonger

Danielle Ford

Laura Gardner

Shannon Halpin

Anjanette Henry

Colleen Hyde

Tatiana Lowers

Melody Nasuta

Jennifer Neubauer

Christina Payne

Jessica Shaw

Nicole Smith

Kimberly Stone

I have a long history with the Qualitative Read-

ing Inventory. Both authors are teachers

and mentors of mine and I have been

fortunate to be involved with its devel-

opment from assisting in piloting stories

for the first edition in the 1980’s.

Dr. JoAnne Caldwell was my professor

for several classes when I was studying

to be a Reading Specialist. What I re-

member most from her teaching, which I

think is well represented in the QRI, is

her insistence that we look at many as-

pects of our students’ reading and not be satisfied

with the results of a quick assessment using lim-

ited information. Dr. Caldwell reinforced for us

the need to consider familiarity of text, structured

and unstructured comprehension measures, and

a proficient reader’s modification of rate to match

task difficulty.

Dr. Leslie, who became my dissertation advi-

sor, encouraged my interest in readers who

were having difficulty in reading development. I

was able to use the QRI as an instrument in a

longitudinal study, measuring the development

of hundreds of readers for a range of reading

tasks from accuracy of word recognition to infer-

ential reading comprehension of continuous

text. The resulting robust evidentiary data were

critical for ensuring that our funding was re-

newed.

I have found the QRI to be a useful assess-

ment for a variety of purposes, but of course, it

is important that those who administer it fully

understand its protocols, strengths and limita-

tions. With that caution, I believe the QRI can

function as a valuable part of a knowledgeable

Reading Specialist’s assessment repertoire.

The invitational Summer Institutes are designed for teachers with a strong and open approach to teaching who are interested in writing as a learning tool in the con-

tent areas.

After completing this 3 week graduate workshop, you will be a Teacher-Consultant with the National Writing Pro-ject and eligible for many op-

portunities, including ad-junct teaching at Towson University and free travel to professional confer-

ences.

Applications are due by April 15. You may ap-ply online at www.towson.edu/mwp or request a brochure from the office at 410-704-

3593.

The Maryland Writing Pro-ject is currently accepting ap-plications for its 2009 Invita-tional Summer Institutes at Towson University and the HEAT Center in Harford County, as well as sites in Fre-derick County and Southern

Maryland at SMHEC.

Patricia

McCarthy,

Ph.D, is

currently

teaching

REED 621:

Reading

Disabilities

S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 N E W S L E T T E R

Earn 6 graduate elective credits towards your M.Ed.

Lisa Taylor

Rebecca Torrence

Gail Weidner

Erin Winter

GRADUATE READING PROGRAMSGRADUATE READING PROGRAMSGRADUATE READING PROGRAMSGRADUATE READING PROGRAMS

Summer Schedule 2009Summer Schedule 2009Summer Schedule 2009Summer Schedule 2009

*PORTFOLIO GALA scheduled for Wed., July 1, 2009

**Students enrolled in summer Seminar must have attended preparatory meetings in January and March.

Course Number Course Name Instructor Session/

Dates

Day/

Room

Time

REED 601

Reading Theory and Prac-tice

Mogge 5/27, 7/1*, & 8/5 with extensive online course delivery.

W

5:00-9:00

REED 626

Internship Staff June 29 - July 2 - class on cam-pus - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

July 6 - 17 - class at School #160 - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

July 16 - on campus - 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.

MTWRF

REED 632

Word Study Mays 5/26-7/2

T R

5:00-8:30

REED 660

Integrating Literacy and Technology

Fuller

6/30-7/30

TR

11:00-1:50

REED 663

Strategic Use of Materials Pitcher 6/3, 6/24, 7/15, 7/22 plus exten-sive online.

W

5:00-8:00

REED 665

Reading & Writing in the Content Areas, K-12

Mack 6/29-7/29 plus extensive online MW

1:00-4:30

EDUC 632/REED 632

Instruction & Assessment of English Language Learners

Martinez Begins online 7/6.

In Portugal 7/14-7/24 and then online until -8/6.

Contact Dr. Martinez or REED website for more info.

N/A N/A

REED 710/ELED 717

Multicultural Literature Martens 6/22-7/7

(no class 7/3)

MTWThF 9:00-1:00

REED 726

By special permit

Advanced Internship Dicembre June 29 - July 2 - class on cam-pus - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

July 6 - 17 - class at school #160 - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

July 16 - on campus - 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.

MTWRF

REED 729**

By special permit

Seminar in Reading Laster 5/27, 6/3, 6/10, 6/17, 6/24 & 7/1* plus extensive online

W 5:00-8:00

REED 740

Grant Writing in Education Blair/Healy 5/28, 6/4, 6/11, 6/18, & 6/25 plus extensive online

Th

4:30-7:30

Registration for

Summer begins

Monday, March 9th

P A G E 4 T O W S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

GRADUATE READING PROGRAMS:GRADUATE READING PROGRAMS:GRADUATE READING PROGRAMS:GRADUATE READING PROGRAMS:

FallSchedule 2009FallSchedule 2009FallSchedule 2009FallSchedule 2009

*PORTFOLIO GALA scheduled for 12/14/09.

**Students enrolled in summer Seminar must have attended preparatory meetings in January and March.

Course Number Course Name Instructor Day/Room Time/Campus

REED 601

Reading Theory and Practice Altwerger W 4:20-6:50pm

REED 601 Reading Theory and Practice Mogge W + online Western H.S. Balt. City

REED 609 Reading Assessment Martinez W 4:20-6:50pm

REED 609

Reading Assessment McCormick Th Baltimore County

REED 609 Reading Assessment McCarthy W Baltimore City

REED 621 Reading Disabilities Laster T 4:20-6:50pm

REED 626 Internship McCarthy Th 4:20-6:50pm

REED 626 Internship Pitcher T 4:20-6:50pm

REED 626 Internship Martinez T 4:20-6:50pm

REED 628 Guided Reading Book/Murphy

T 7:00-9:30pm

EDUC 650/REED 650

Second Language Literacy Mogge T 4:20-6:50pm

REED 660 Literacy & Technology Staff TBA TBA

REED 663 Strategic Use of Materials Pitcher Th + online 4:20-6:50pm

REED 665 Reading & Writing in the Content Areas, K-12

Martinez W 7:00-9:40

REED 665 Reading & Writing in the Content Areas, K-12

Palladino T TLN—Balt. City—DHH

REED 665 Reading & Writing in the Content Areas, K-12

Staff TBA HEAT

REED 726 Advanced Internship Dicembre T 4:20-6:50pm

REED 726 Advanced Internship Dicembre Th 4:20-6:50pm

REED 729 Seminar in Reading Altwerger M Meets 5:30-8:00pm

REED 729 Seminar in Reading Laster M Meets 5:30-8:00pm

REED 745 Professional Development in Reading Pitcher W 4:20-6:50pm

REED 745 Professional Development in Reading Palladino W 4:20-6:50pm

Registration for Fall

begins Wednesday,

April 1st

P A G E 6 T O W S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

opportunity to pick and choose the

topics that most interest you. Last

but not least, we will visit a lan-

guage learning center, to see how

teachers in Portugal teach a second

language.

Portugal as you know is right next

door to Spain, so you may even

decide to visit there. For these

reasons - and the fact that we will

be in the land of a romance lan-

guage - Portuguese - you should

go.

I can't wait! I am already listening

to Portuguese CD's in my car.

Last year the study abroad

was in Costa Rica, where the

International Reading Associa-

tion (IRA) held its World

Congress

conference.

The experi-

ence was

quite a suc-

cess, which

is why this

year we are

doing another study abroad!

This study abroad is a "must

go" experience because not

only will you learn about Eng-

lish Language Learners, which

you are going to encounter in

your career, but you will also

get to attend the IRA Euro-

pean reading conference. This

conference has all sorts of

topics related to reading and

writing; and, you will have the

Dr. Gilda Martinez on Study Abroad in Portugal, Summer 2009

Dr. Martinez and team present at the IRA

World Congress Conference in Costa Rica,

Summer 2008. Join her this year for the IRA

European Conference in Braga, Portugal.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

- Miriam Beard

Candidates should be excited about:

• Working in a collaborative environment

• Building a classroom community of caring, following the

Responsive Classrooms approach

• Teaching with the TERC mathematics curriculum

• Having flexibility and autonomy for making curricular

decisions on a day-to-day basis

• Having weekly and summer professional development, as

well as in-class instructional coaching

The Green School is a Baltimore City public charter school,

founded by teachers, with an environmental science inquiry

approach, with 130 students in grades K-5.

Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter

via email to Erin Gunter, erin_brough@msn.com

Job Opportunity: Fifth Grade Teacher Needed for 2009Job Opportunity: Fifth Grade Teacher Needed for 2009Job Opportunity: Fifth Grade Teacher Needed for 2009Job Opportunity: Fifth Grade Teacher Needed for 2009----10101010

APPLYING FOR GRADUATION

Deadline for Submission:

Request for graduation needs to be submitted to the

Graduate School Office. Usually, graduation

applications need to be filed within the first month of

the semester of expected graduation.

Call the Graduate School for specific dates and

information (410-704-2501).

Portfolio Requirements

P A G E 7

Students in REED 729

will present a portfolio

of their coursework in

at the end of the se-

mester.

The portfolio must

include the follow-

ing items:

REED 601:REED 601:REED 601:REED 601:

*Autobiography

*Models Presentation Handout

REED 609:REED 609:REED 609:REED 609:

*Informal Assessment Reports

*Comparison of Test Results OR Emergent

Literacy Assessment

*Survey of School Literacy

Assmt.

REED 621:REED 621:REED 621:REED 621:

*Focused Case Study

*Disabled Reader or Metacognitive/Cognitive

Processing Paper

REED 626:REED 626:REED 626:REED 626:

*Demonstration lesson

*Final Case Report

REED 663:REED 663:REED 663:REED 663:

*Research Based Instructional

Project

*Text Set

REED 665:REED 665:REED 665:REED 665:

*Cross-curriculum Project

*Mini Case Study

REED 726:REED 726:REED 726:REED 726:

*Reflection Log

*Parent Workshop Materials

REED 729:REED 729:REED 729:REED 729:

*Seminar Research Paper

*Paper Presentation

*Reflective Essay Electives:Electives:Electives:Electives: Include one assignment from each of the three

electives.

PORTFOLIO GALASPORTFOLIO GALASPORTFOLIO GALASPORTFOLIO GALAS

Spring ‘09Spring ‘09Spring ‘09Spring ‘09: : : : Monday, May 11th, in the

Lecture Hall next to Hawkins Hall

Summer ‘09:Summer ‘09:Summer ‘09:Summer ‘09: Wednesday, July 1st, in

Susquehannah Terrace (Union)

Southern Maryland Campus: Southern Maryland Campus: Southern Maryland Campus: Southern Maryland Campus: Tuesday,

July 21st

It is recommended that

students keep an elec-

tronic backup of all

coursework, and it is

required that students create both an

electronic copy and a hard copy of

the Portfolio. The electronic copy

will be kept for our files. The hard

copy of your portfolio must be pre-

sented at the Portfolio Gala held

each semester. After it has been re-

viewed, it will be returned to you for

your personal use. Be sure that the

portfolio is fully complete upon turn-

ing it in.

Visit the Visit the Visit the Visit the

Alumni Wiki!Alumni Wiki!Alumni Wiki!Alumni Wiki!

reedalumni.wikispaces.comreedalumni.wikispaces.comreedalumni.wikispaces.comreedalumni.wikispaces.com

A new resource for jobs, news, and events.

Collaborate, share, and stay connected!

P A G E 8

Look for Dr.

Sharon Pitcher’s

article entitled

"The Great

Poetry Race" in

the April issue of

The Reading

Teacher

ONLINE!

“Liberating Read-

ing Instruction:

Professional De-

velopment for

Content Area

Teachers at a

School for Incar-

cerated Youth”

by Dr. Barbara

Laster, can be

found online at

www.joci.ecu.edu,

the Journal of Cur-

riculum and In-

struction (JoCI) REED Faculty Contact Information

Summer REEDing Confronting Intolerance: Criti-

cal, Responsive Literacy In-

struction with Adult Immi-

grants, by Dr. Steve Mogge,

captures the experience of

adult immigrants who are

improving their English lit-

eracy while confronting an

intolerant political culture

(www.amazon.com).

In Re-Reading Flunecy, Bess

Altwerger, Nancy Jordan,

and Nancy Rankie Shelton

give specific critiques of

DIBELS and offer better

ways to assess reading that

can improve instruction,

assessment, and the success

of young readers.

What Really Matters in Re-

sponse to Intervention, by

Richard J. Allington, pre-

sents a teacher-friendly

framework for how to de-

sign response to interven-

tion programs that effec-

tively support struggling

readers.

Dr. Bess Altwerger HH404C baltwerger@towson.edu 410-704-3188

Dr. Elizabeth Dicembre HH120D edicembre@towon.edu 410-704-4492

Dr. Barbara Laster HH107H blaster@towson.edu 410-704-2556

Dr. Gilda Martinez HH107N gmartinez@towson.edu 410-404-2480

Dr. Pat McCarthy HH025A pmccarthy@towson.edu 410-704-2009

Dr. Stephen Mogge HH102K smogge@towson.edu 410-704-5771

Dr. Jessica Palladino HH102E jpalladino@towson.edu 410-704-2579

Dr. Sharon Pitcher HH120B spitcher@towson.edu 410-704-2895

READING PROGRAM OFFICE CONTACTS:

Phone: 410-704-5775

Graduate Assistants:

Danica Draper: ddrape1@students.towson.edu

Jodi Trumbull: jtrumb1@students.towson.edu