Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 505-3-.03 - Foundations of Reading, Literacy, and Language

State Regulations
Compare

(1) Purpose. This rule states reading, literacy, and language content standards for approving programs that prepare individuals to teach children aged birth through kindergarten and children in any subject in grades P-12, and it supplements requirements in GaPSC Rule 505-3-.01, REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS FOR APPROVING EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROVIDERS AND EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS.

(2) Definitions.

(a) Alphabetic Principle: The idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language.

(b) Comprehension: Comprehension is the cognitive process of understanding and interpreting information, usually in the context of language, both spoken and written. It involves the ability to extract meaning from words, sentences, and larger units of text or speech, as well as making connections between ideas, drawing inferences, and synthesizing information.

(c) Explicit Instruction: Instruction that is taught directly and clearly, leaving little to chance. Teachers begin by modeling the objective, ensuring that students know what is expected. Students then practice along with the teacher, and finally, they complete the task individually (e.g., I do, we do, you do). Explicit instruction includes practice with immediate corrective feedback.

(d) Fluency: The ability to act (speak, read, write) with ease, accuracy, automaticity/appropriate rate, and prosody. It is an essential component of reading because it permits the reader to focus on constructing meaning from the text rather than on decoding words.

(e) Grapheme: A letter or letter combination that spells a phoneme; it can be one, two, three, or four letters in English (e.g., i, ou, igh, ough).

(f) Language (expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language): (1) Expressive Language: Sharing thoughts and feelings through body language, gestures, facial expressions, vocalizations, or words. (2) Receptive Language: Understanding what others are communicating; understanding the intents of others. (3) Pragmatic Language: The social use of verbal and nonverbal communication.

(g) Literacy: The capacity to engage with and skillfully utilize various forms of communication, including reading, writing, speaking, listening, and digital media, to effectively express, interpret, and interact with a variety of ideas and perspectives.

(h) Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of a language that cannot be further divided. A "base," or "root" is a morpheme in a word that gives the word its principle meaning.

(i) Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound in a spoken word; an individual speech sound.

(j) Phonemic Awareness: The ability to detect and manipulate the smallest units (i.e., phonemes) of spoken language. For example, recognition that the word cat includes three distinct sounds or phonemes represents phonemic awareness. Individuals with phonemic awareness can blend phonemes to form spoken words, segment spoken words into their constituent phonemes, delete phonemes from spoken words, add phonemes, and substitute phonemes.

(k) Phonics: An approach to teaching reading that emphasizes the systematic relationship between the sounds of language and the graphemes (i.e., letters or letter combinations) that represent those sounds. Learners apply this knowledge to decode printed words.

(l) Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structures within spoken language. This skill encompasses the identification and manipulation of various linguistic components, including (1) syllables, such as /book/, (2) onsets and rimes, such as /b/ and /ook/, and (3) individual phonemes, such as /b/, /oo/, and /k/.

(m) Science of Reading/Scientific Reading Instruction: An evidence-based approach to teaching reading and writing that is rooted in the understanding of cognitive science and its connection to educational outcomes. This method trains educators to teach reading by addressing syllables, morphology, sound-symbol correspondence, semantics, and syntax in a clear, systematic, and diagnostic manner. The approach holistically integrates speaking, listening, reading, and writing by offering explicit, systematic, and tailored instruction in areas such as phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, syllable patterns, morphology, semantics, and syntax, ensuring a comprehensive and inclusive literacy development experience.

(n) Spelling: The process of representing a language by means of a writing system.

(o) Systematic Instruction: The use of a planned, logical sequence to introduce elements taught, building from the simplest to those that are more complex.

(p) Vocabulary: The collection of words that an individual knows, understands, and actively employs in both written and oral communication. This personalized set of words is dynamic and evolves through exposure to diverse sources and experiences. This definition differs from lexicon, which encompasses the entire set of words within a language.

(q) Written Expression: A complex process of using various cognitive operations to translate ideas and thoughts into a written language.

(3) Requirements.

(a) To receive approval, a GaPSC-approved educator preparation provider shall ensure candidates meet the standards specified below for programs leading to initial teacher certification. The standards are adapted from the standards published in 2017 by the International Literacy Association (ILA), the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) published in 2013, the Knowledge and Practice Standards published in 2018 by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and the standards published in 2017 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). GaPSC-approved programs shall incorporate these standards by Fall 2024.

(b) Programs that prepare Birth Through Kindergarten and Special Education Preschool teachers shall meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Language and Literacy Acquisition.

(i) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that the development of language is the foundation for literacy development.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that language is developed within the context of relationships.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that social engagement is the means by which we proactively gauge language development.

(iv) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that engagement through frequent, social interactions with adults and peers as evidenced by investment, independence, and initiation is the fuel for language development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that when children are engaged their use of language is frequent, functional, socially oriented, and fluid across settings.

(vi) Candidates will know and be able to explain indicators and phases of typical language development including expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language across the birth to kindergarten continuum.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge that language development is essential for individuals to communicate needs, formulate ideas, develop and maintain relationships, and solidify understanding of concepts.

(viii) Candidates are able to cite evidence and give practical examples showing how phonological awareness skills affect attainment of future literacy skills.

(ix) Candidates will be able to identify and explain how language development influences cognitive and emotional development, which contributes to literacy and writing development. Candidates will be able to cite examples in practice and explain how to continuously notice, support, and nurture language development across the developmental continuum.

(x) Candidates understand and explain research describing the effects of communication styles and dialects on foundational early language and literacy learning.

(xi) Candidates will know and be able to explain that language development is vital to the use of one's "inner dialogue" required for self-regulation.

(xii) Candidates understand the various ways in which infants and young children communicate their needs, wants, feelings through the use of language (e.g., gestures, body language, facial expressions, vocalizations, or words).

(xiii) Candidates understand the ways in which infants and young children experiment with expressive language to enhance their communication (e.g., spontaneous vocal play, crying).

(xiv) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which all domains of development impact language development (e.g., fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, and emotional development).

2. Application: Methods and Assessment.

(i) Curriculum and Instruction.

(I) Candidates will implement developmentally responsive practices that meet the instructional needs of students who are at different points of language and literacy development.

(II) Candidates select high-quality literary, multimedia, and informational texts; and provide a coherent, integrated, and motivating literacy program for all learners.

(III) Candidates design, adapt, implement, and evaluate instructional approaches and materials that are evidence-based, developmentally responsive, and integrated across language and literacy domains with an emphasis on individual, small, and large group conversations, play, storytelling, rhyming, singing, and writing activities.

(IV) Candidates plan, modify, and implement developmentally responsive explicit, systematic, cumulative, and teacher-directed and child-directed instruction in the foundational skills of language and literacy, including phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary development, listening and reading comprehension, print awareness, and written expression.

(V) Candidates scaffold instruction to support learners based on their development, including those with different learning needs. Concepts across the age bands include:

I. Phonological and phonemic awareness

A. Progression of sound and phonological-awareness skill development across age

B. Sound awareness

C. Phonological sensitivity

D. Rhyming

E. Syllabication

F. Segmenting, deleting, manipulating phonemes

G. Consonant and vowel phonemes

II. Print awareness

A. Recognition that print has meaning

B. Environmental print

C. Book handling skills

D. Recognition that print is read left to right, top to bottom

E. Recognition of a letter, a word, a sentence

III. Phonics and word recognition

A. Alphabetic principle

B. Phoneme-grapheme correspondence

C. English orthography

D. Systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of basic decoding and spelling rules and letter patterns (digraphs, diphthongs, blends, onset-rime, etc.)

E. Teaching regular and irregular words

F. Teaching decoding of multisyllabic words

G. Decodable texts and sound walls in teaching beginning readers

IV. Reading fluency

A. Automatic word reading

B. Oral reading fluency including accuracy, automaticity, and prosody

C. Varied techniques and methods for building reading fluency

D. Appropriate uses of assistive technology

V. Listening and reading comprehension

A. Background knowledge

B. Use of pictures and other visual cues, props (puppets, storyboards, etc.)

C. Inferencing

D. Instructional routines appropriate for each major genre: informational text, narrative text

E. Teacher's role as an active mediator of text-comprehension processes (text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world)

(VI) Candidates design, adapt, implement, and evaluate evidence-based and developmentally responsive instruction and materials to develop writing processes and orthographic knowledge for all learners. They use a structured approach to explicitly teach skills related to written expression. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

I. Written expression

A. Supports small and large muscle development needed to support writing

B. Developmental phases of writing (random marks, holds simple tools)

C. Dictation of children's drawings and thoughts (writes words to describe or name pictures)

D. Use of inventive spelling

E. Planning, translating (drafting), reviewing, and revising

F. Research-based principles for teaching letter formation

G. Research-based principles for teaching written spelling and punctuation

H. Developmental phases of the writing process

I. Appropriate uses of assistive technology in written expression.

(VII) Candidates plan, modify, and implement evidence-based and integrated instruction and materials to support and nurture expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language development. They use a range of instructional approaches, including multi-modal and multi-sensory strategies and context-based instruction. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

I. Expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language development

A. Adult and peer interaction

B. Uses developmentally responsive strategies to support progression of language development

C. Role or creation of a stimulating environment including multi-modal materials to enhance engagement - as indicated by learners' investment, independence, and initiation - in supporting/nurturing language development

(VIII) Candidates plan, modify, and implement evidence-based and integrated instruction and materials to develop vocabulary knowledge for all learners. They use a range of instructional approaches, including direct instruction, context-based instruction, and word-learning strategies. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

I. Vocabulary development

A. Adult and peer interaction

B. Uses strategies to support progression of vocabulary development

C. Role of expressive language including non-verbal (gestures, eye contact) and verbal (vocalizations, babbling) in vocabulary development

D. Role or creation of a stimulating environment including multi-modal materials to enhance engagement as indicated by learners' investment, independence, and initiation

E. Role of vocabulary development and vocabulary knowledge in oral and written language comprehension

F. Sources of wide differences in students' vocabularies

G. Indirect (contextual) methods of vocabulary instruction and their role and characteristics

H. Direct, explicit methods of vocabulary instruction and their role and characteristics

(IX) Candidates apply knowledge of learner development and learning differences to create a positive, language and literacy-rich learning environment anchored in materials that promote play, conversation, and exploration (e.g., dramatic play materials, books, blocks) that support and nurture engagement between children and peers, and children and adults.

(ii) Assessment and Evaluation

(I) Candidates use observational methods for universally noticing and monitoring, screening if necessary, enhancing opportunities to scaffold students' language and literacy development.

(II) Candidates understand the purposes, strengths, limitations, reliability/validity, and appropriateness of various types of informal and formal assessments for language and literacy development, including universal monitoring, screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic, and outcome assessments.

(III) Candidates utilize results of all data collection methods related to language and literacy development to inform and enhance developmentally responsive practices to support learning in universal settings including everyday routines, rituals, and activities.

(IV) Candidates integrate, summarize, and communicate (orally and in writing) the meaning of educational assessment data for sharing with caregivers, including parents, other educators, and healthcare providers.

3. Language and Literacy Professional Dispositions and Practices.

(i) Candidates promote language and literacy development for all students by using developmentally responsive practices and engaging in ethical and effective practices that honor all students' linguistic backgrounds.

(ii) Candidates continuously reflect on their practices, engage in ongoing appreciative inquiry and peer mentorship through collaboration with other educators and advocate for students and their families to support and nurture language and literacy development.

(c) Programs that prepare Elementary Education (P-5), Special Education General Curriculum/Elementary Education (P-5), and Middle Grades Reading teachers shall meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Literacy Acquisition.

(i) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of language processes required for proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and discourse.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate an understanding that learning to read requires explicit, structured, and cumulative instruction.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the reciprocal relationships among the foundations of reading (i.e., phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge).

(iv) Candidates demonstrate the ability to identify and explain how aspects of cognition and behavior can affect reading and writing development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of how environmental and social factors can contribute to literacy development.

(vi) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of major research findings on the contribution of linguistic and cognitive factors to literacy outcomes.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the most common intrinsic differences between proficient and striving readers, including motivation, self-efficacy, linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

(viii) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of oral language development, phonemic awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(ix) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of evidence-based instructional approaches that support the development of reading and writing skills, including concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and producing writing appropriate to task.

(x) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the integration of literacy skills across different subject areas.

(xi) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the typical developmental progression of oral language, phoneme awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(xii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the reciprocal relationships between decoding, word recognition, spelling, morphology, and vocabulary knowledge.

(xiii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of evidence-based instructional approaches that support the development of listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing, and their centrality to literacy learning.

(xiv) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the most common intrinsic differences between strong and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

2. Application: Methods and Assessment.

(i) Curriculum and Instruction.

(I) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the principles and practices of scientific reading instruction and apply this knowledge to critically examine literacy curricula; select high-quality literary, multimedia, and informational texts; and provide a coherent, integrated, and motivating literacy program for all learners.

(II) Candidates design, adapt, implement, and evaluate instructional approaches and materials that are evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, and integrated across literacy domains related to the following areas: phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, reading fluency, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, and written expression.

(III) Candidates plan, modify, and implement explicit, systematic, cumulative, and teacher-directed instruction in the foundational skills of reading, including phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, reading fluency, and listening and reading comprehension. Candidates scaffold instruction to support all learners in reading, including those with different learning needs. Concepts related to this area include:

I. Phonological and phonemic awareness

A. Consonant and vowel phonemes

B. Phonological sensitivity

C. Phonemic-awareness difficulties

D. Progression of phonemic-awareness skill development across age and grade

E. Rhyming

F. Segmenting, deleting, manipulating phonemes

G. Syllabication

II. Phonics and word recognition

A. Alphabetic principle

B. Phoneme-grapheme correspondence

C. English orthography

D. Systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of basic decoding and encoding rules and letter patterns (digraphs, diphthongs, blends, onset-rime, etc.)

E. Teaching regular and irregular words

F. Teaching decoding of multisyllabic words

G. Decodable texts and sound walls in teaching beginning readers

III. Reading fluency

A. Automatic word reading

B. Oral reading fluency including accuracy, automaticity, and prosody

C. Varied techniques and methods for building reading fluency (e.g., repeated reading, echo reading, and Reader's Theater)

D. Appropriate uses of assistive technology

E. Repeated and echo reading strategies

IV. Listening and reading comprehension

A. Background knowledge

B. Inferencing

C. Factors that contribute to deep comprehension

D. Instructional routines appropriate for each major genre: informational text, narrative text, and argumentation

E. Role of sentence comprehension in listening and reading comprehension

F. Teacher's role as an active mediator of text-comprehension processes (text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world)

(IV) Candidates design, adapt, implement, and evaluate evidence-based and developmentally appropriate instruction and materials to develop writing processes and orthographic knowledge for all learners. They use a structured approach to explicitly teach skills related to written expression. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

I. Written expression

A. Handwriting skills in print and cursive

B. Motor skills and letter/word formation

C. Transcription and writing fluency

D. Major skill domains that contribute to written expression

E. Planning, translating (drafting), reviewing, and revising

F. Genre

G. Research-based principles for teaching letter formation, both manuscript and cursive

H. Research-based principles for teaching written spelling and punctuation

I. Developmental phases of the writing process

J. Appropriate uses of assistive technology in written expression.

(V) Candidates plan, modify, and implement evidence-based and integrated instruction and materials to develop vocabulary knowledge for all learners. They use a range of instructional approaches, including direct instruction, context-based instruction, and word-learning strategies. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

I. Vocabulary

A. Role of vocabulary development and vocabulary knowledge in oral and written language comprehension

B. Sources of wide differences in students' vocabularies

C. Indirect (contextual) methods of vocabulary instruction and their role and characteristics

D. Direct, explicit methods of vocabulary instruction and their role and characteristics

E. Morphological awareness

(VI) Candidates apply knowledge of learner development and learning differences to create a positive, literacy-rich learning environment anchored in digital and print literacies.

(ii) Assessment and Evaluation.

(I) Candidates understand the purposes, strengths, limitations, reliability/validity, and appropriateness of various types of informal and formal assessments, including screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic, and outcome assessments, for gathering evidence on students' language acquisition and literacy development.

(II) Candidates use observational skills and results of student work to determine students' reading, literacy, and language strengths and needs, and select and administer other appropriate formal and informal assessments for assessing students' language and literacy development.

(III) Candidates utilize results of various assessment measures to inform and modify instruction and understand and apply basic principles of test construction and formats, including reliability, validity, criterion, and normed.

(IV) Candidates use assessment data in an ethical manner, interpret data to explain student progress, and inform families and colleagues about the function and purpose of assessments.

(V) Candidates understand and utilize well-validated screening tests designed to identify students at risk for reading difficulties and students who exhibit characteristics of dyslexia and understand and apply the principles of progress monitoring and reporting with Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs), including graphing techniques.

(VI) Candidates understand and utilize informal diagnostic surveys of phonological and phonemic awareness, decoding skills, oral reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, and writing.

(VII) Candidates read and interpret the most common diagnostic tests used by psychologists, speech-language professionals, and educational evaluators.

(VIII) Candidates integrate, summarize, and communicate (orally and in writing) the meaning of educational assessment data for sharing with students, parents, and other teachers.

3. Literacy Professional Dispositions and Practices.

(i) Candidates promote high-quality literacy learning for all students by using responsive practices and engaging in ethical and effective practices that honor all students' linguistic backgrounds.

(ii) Candidates act in the best interests of striving readers and maintain the public trust by providing accurate and scientifically supported best practices in the field.

(iii) Candidates continuously reflect on their practices, engage in ongoing inquiry, and advocate for students and their families to enhance literacy learning.

(d) Programs that prepare Middle Grades (4-8) teachers of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social science shall ensure candidates meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Literacy Acquisitions.

(i) Candidates demonstrate awareness of language processes required for proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and discourse.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate an awareness that learning to read requires explicit, structured, and cumulative instruction.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the reciprocal relationships among the foundations of reading (i.e., phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge).

(iv) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of how aspects of cognition and behavior can affect reading and writing development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of how environmental and social factors can contribute to literacy development.

(vi) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of major research findings on the contribution of linguistic and cognitive factors to literacy outcomes.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the most common intrinsic differences between proficient and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

(viii) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of the oral language development, phonemic awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(ix) Candidates demonstrate awareness of evidence-based instructional approaches that support the development of reading and writing skills, including concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and producing writing appropriate to task.

(x) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the integration of literacy skills across different subject areas.

(xi) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of the typical developmental progression of oral language, phoneme awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(xii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the reciprocal relationships between decoding, word recognition, spelling, morphology, and vocabulary knowledge.

(xiii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of evidence-based instructional approaches that support the development of listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing, and their centrality to literacy learning.

(xiv) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of the most common intrinsic differences between strong and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

2. Application: Curriculum and Instruction.

(i) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of the principles and practices of scientific reading instruction and apply this knowledge to critically examine literacy curricula; select high-quality literary, multimedia, and informational texts; and provide a coherent, integrated, and motivating literacy program for all learners.

(ii) Candidates apply adolescent literacy in reading and writing for vocabulary development, word recognition reading comprehension and fluency. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

(I) Reading grade-level texts from a variety of genres with greater focus on higher-order skills such as analyzing texts and developing perspective

(II) Reading comprehension for text complexity

(III) Writing for a range of authentic purposes and genres

(IV) Morphology for understanding multisyllabic words

(V) Oral and silent reading fluency

(VI) Systematically teach the decoding of multisyllabic words

(iii) Candidates apply adolescent literacy development to develop disciplinary literacy and content area literacy; developing academic vocabulary and writing for research. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

(I) Demonstrate skill in integrating literacy into specific disciplinary studies

(II) Develop awareness and skill in utilizing a range of content area literacy strategies across the curriculum.

3. Assessment and Evaluation.

(i) Candidates understand the purposes, strengths, limitations, reliability/validity, and appropriateness of various types of informal and formal assessments, including screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic, and outcome assessments, for gathering evidence on students' language acquisition and literacy development.

(ii) Candidates utilize results of various assessment measures to inform and modify instruction and understand and apply basic principles of test construction and formats, including reliability, validity, criterion, and normed.

(iii) Candidates use assessment data in an ethical manner, interpret data to explain student progress, and inform families and colleagues about the function and purpose of assessments.

(iv) Candidates integrate, summarize, and communicate (orally and in writing) the meaning of educational assessment data for sharing with students, parents, and other teachers.

(e) Programs that prepare Secondary (6-12) teachers shall meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Literacy Acquisitions.

(i) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the five language processing requirements for proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and discourse.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate awareness that learning to read requires explicit, structured, and cumulative instruction.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the reciprocal relationships between phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge.

(iv) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of how aspects of cognition and behavior can affect reading and writing development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of how environmental and social factors can contribute to literacy development.

(vi) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of major research findings on the contribution of linguistic and cognitive factors to literacy outcomes.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the most common intrinsic differences between proficient and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

(viii) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of the typical developmental progression of oral language, phonemic awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(ix) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of evidence-based instructional approaches that support the development of reading and writing skills, including concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and producing writing appropriate to task.

(x) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the integration of literacy skills across different subject areas.

2. Application: Curriculum and Instruction.

(i) Candidates develop disciplinary literacy and content area literacy; developing academic vocabulary and writing for research. Key terms or concepts related to this area include:

(I) Demonstrate skill in integrating literacy into specific disciplinary studies.

(II) Develop awareness and skill in utilizing a range of content area literacy strategies across the curriculum, including informational text.

3. Assessment and Evaluation.

(i) Candidates should be familiar with the student support services available in their school or district. These may include reading specialists, writing tutors, or special education services.

(ii) Candidates should collaborate with student support service providers to ensure that students receive appropriate services. This may involve sharing information about the student's strengths and weaknesses, providing feedback on interventions, and monitoring the student's progress.

(f) Programs that prepare teachers for the Special Education (P-12) fields of General Curriculum, Adapted Curriculum, Deaf Education, Physical and Health Disabilities, and Vision Impairment shall meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Literacy Acquisition.

(i) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of language processes required for proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and discourse.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate an understanding that learning to read requires explicit, structured, and cumulative instruction.

(iv) Candidates demonstrate the ability to identify and explain how aspects of cognition and behavior can affect reading and writing development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of how environmental and social factors can contribute to literacy development.

(vi) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of major research findings on the contribution of linguistic and cognitive factors to literacy outcomes.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the most common intrinsic differences between proficient and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

(viii) Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the oral language development, phonemic awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression.

(x) Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the integration of literacy skills across different subject areas.

2. Application: Methods and Assessment.

(i) Curriculum and Instruction.

I. Reading grade-level texts from a variety of genres with greater focus on higher-order skills such as analyzing texts and developing perspective

II. Reading comprehension for text complexity

III. Writing for a range of authentic purposes and genres

IV. Morphology for understanding multisyllabic words

V. Oral and silent reading fluency

VI. Systematically teach the decoding of multisyllabic words

VII. Content area literacy

VIII. Academic vocabulary

IX. Demonstrate skill in integrating literacy into specific disciplinary studies

(ii) Assessment and Evaluation.

(II) Candidates should be familiar with the student support services available in their school or district. These may include reading specialists, writing tutors, or special education services.

(III) Candidates should collaborate with student support service providers to ensure that students receive appropriate services. This may involve sharing information about the student's strengths and weaknesses, providing feedback on interventions, and monitoring the student's progress.

(IV) Teachers should communicate with parents and guardians about their child's reading and writing deficiencies and the steps being taken to address them. This may involve discussing the student's progress, setting goals, and providing resources for parents to use at home.

(g) Programs that prepare teachers for the P-12 fields of Art, Computer Science, Dance, Drama, Engineering and Technology, English to Speakers of Other Languages, Foreign Language, Health and Physical Education, and Music shall meet the following standards.

1. Knowledge: Literacy Acquisition.

(i) Candidates demonstrate awareness of language processes required for proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, and discourse.

(ii) Candidates demonstrate an awareness that learning to read requires explicit, structured, and cumulative instruction.

(iv) Candidates demonstrate awareness of how aspects of cognition and behavior can affect reading and writing development.

(v) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of how environmental and social factors can contribute to literacy development.

(vi) Candidates demonstrate an awareness of major research findings on the contribution of linguistic and cognitive factors to literacy outcomes.

(vii) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the most common intrinsic differences between proficient and striving readers, including linguistic, cognitive, and neurobiological factors.

(x) Candidates demonstrate awareness of the integration of literacy skills across different subject areas.

2. Application: Methods and Assessment.

(i) Curriculum and Instruction.

I. Reading grade-level texts from a variety of genres with greater focus on higher-order skills such as analyzing texts and developing perspective

II. Reading comprehension for text complexity

III. Writing for a range of authentic purposes and genres

IV. Morphology for understanding multisyllabic words

V. Oral and silent reading fluency

VI. Systematically teach the decoding of multisyllabic words

VII. Content area literacy

VIII. Academic vocabulary

IX. Demonstrate skill in integrating literacy into specific disciplinary studies

(ii) Assessment and Evaluation.

(I) Candidates should be familiar with the student support services available in their school or district. These may include reading specialists, writing tutors, or special education services.

(II) Candidates should collaborate with student support service providers to ensure that students receive appropriate services. This may involve sharing information about the student's strengths and weaknesses, providing feedback on interventions, and monitoring the student's progress.

Notes

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 505-3-.03

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-200.

Original Rule entitled "Foundations of Reading, Literacy, And Language" adopted. F. June 21, 2023; eff. July 1, 2023, as specified by the Agency.

State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.

No prior version found.