Paula Salvio
Ruth Wharton-McDonald

Grant Cioffi, in memoriam...

The ability to read and write is at the heart of the educational experience. Academic, professional and personal accomplishment is closely linked to literacy. Research has provided a body of knowledge that gives significant insights into how individuals can be helped to achieve literacy in its broadest sense: both functional competence and aesthetic fulfillment through reading and writing.

The reading program at UNH prepares specialized reading professionals to develop literacy through teaching and instructional leadership in a variety of educational contexts (e.g. classrooms, clinics, Title I programs, resource rooms, content classes, and learning centers) through a sequence that integrates theory, research, and instructional practice, and incorporates field-based and clinical components. Particular emphasis is placed on the interrelationship of reading and writing as complementary processes.

Graduates of the program are prepared for the following roles:

♦ teaching reading, writing, and the related language arts in a variety of educational settings
♦ providing diagnostic-instructional intervention programs for individuals who experience difficulty learning to read and to write
♦ offering leadership and direction in organizing, managing, and evaluating literacy programs

Certification

Upon successful completion of the degree program, students will be recommended to the New Hampshire State Department of Education for certification as reading specialists. It is important to note that the State of New Hampshire Standards for reading specialists require that candidates for certification “shall have had two years successful classroom teaching experience, one year of which may be a supervised internship”. (Specific Program Standards--Reading Specialist 614.02). Application forms for certification are available from the office of the UNH Department of Education.