Our Purpose
The Center of Literacy Excellence was created to elevate teacher knowledge on the latest research related to assessment, curriculum, instruction and advocacy. Through their internships and classroom teaching experiences, participants will apply what they learn throughout schools in the Lowcountry to maximize impacts on student achievement.
The center includes a dyslexia program designed to help teachers, counselors and school administrators better understand and support learners with dyslexia, regardless of the timeline of their diagnosis, through research-based, specific teacher training.
Addressing the needs of all students is a cornerstone of our practice in the Zucker Family School of Education. We recognize that literacy challenges can plague us all at various points in our development, so we wanted to take on one of the greatest challenges in education – creating systems of sustainable change in support of educators and their PK-12 students’ literacy achievement and career readiness – Dr. Ortlieb
Thank You to Our Donors
This center, made possible through a generous donation from Wes and Betsy Fuller, supports the professional development of pre-school through 12th grade (PK-12) educators to meet the diverse needs of students including English as a Second Language learners and others with exceptionalities.
Our Four Key Pillars:
- Awareness: Demystifying what dyslexia is, differentiating dyslexia from other reading difficulties, explaining the eligibility process and discussing early identification and instruction versus intervention.
- Assessment: Equipping PK-12 educators with the ability to use technology to screen students accurately for dyslexia using an app-based approach and provide instructional recommendations for next steps. Engaging in ongoing research to inform the improvement cycle of this professional development program while benefitting from a scientifically tested electronic platform. Participants will receive training in assessing letter-sound knowledge, word decoding, reading fluency, spelling and reading comprehension across print-based and electronic mediums.
- Intervention: Participants will learn how to implement effective dyslexia interventions that include a focus on the Science of Reading as well as personalized learning, multisensory approaches, explicit phonics instruction, sequential and structured instruction and continuous feedback including positive reinforcement. An advanced institute is also envisioned to create a professional learning network of dyslexia experts across South Carolina, which would provide ongoing professional development.
- Advocacy: Participants will gain a rich understanding of and support the rights of students with exceptionalities, related educational policies, other governmental supports available to families, caregivers and students and how to advocate for the needs of students with dyslexia in their school communities.