Important Notice

Effective July 1, 2010, the Sacramento County Office of Education will no longer be able to provide support for those pursuing continuing education units though UCLA Extension.

Please contact the Education Department at UCLA Extension if you have any questions or are in need of assistance: Cecelia Connor—(310) 825-1319.

On November 1, 2008, UCLA Extension was no longer able to provide the optional post-graduate professional credit to 2008-2009 Institute attendees.

Students enrolled as of October 31, 2008, for Summer 2008 and Fall 2008 Quarters will receive the UCLA Extension credit upon course work completion.

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Courses for 2008-2009

Click on each course title for specific prerequisites, fees, textbooks, and assignments.

2 Quarter Unit Courses

Prerequisite: Completion of 4–6 teacher modules.

Course No. X 324.353 Principles of Vocabulary Development

Course Description: Provides an overview of the research on what kind of vocabulary instruction is needed should improvement in student comprehension be desired; offers answers to the following four questions: what is the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension; how many words do people know; what does it mean to 'know' a word; and how do people learn words from context; and presents the general principles for teaching words and procedures for teaching word meaning as concepts.

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Course No. X 324.354 The Power of Feedback as an Instructional Strategy

Course Description: Provides an overview of how feedback to students is an integral aspect of instruction and learning; provides a synthesis of the research on the differential effects of feedback based on who provides it, the type of feedback provided, and when and how it is provided; offers a model of feedback that identifies particular properties and circumstances that make it an effective strategy for whole classroom instruction and small group intervention.

Course No. X 324.355 Knowledge: Essential Factor for Reading Comprehension

Course Description: Provides a review of the literature on what cognitive scientists are finding to be essential for increasing reading comprehension – knowledge with less emphasis on reading comprehension strategies; offers several articles that examine the implications of continued neglect of an emphasis on knowledge as part of reading comprehension instruction if students are to improve their reading achievement.

4 Quarter Unit Courses

Non-ELPD prerequisite: Completion of a 40-hour (5-day) professional development institute and/or completion of an 80-hour follow-up (Passport). Note: Participant has the option of registering for a 4 unit or 8 unit course with Passport completion.

ELPD prerequisite: Completion of a 40-hour (5-day) SB 472 ELPD institute and/or completion of a 40-hour* follow-up (Passport). Maximum of two, 4 quarter unit courses upon completion of both.

* 40-hour Passport means the participant has included the 40-hour ELPD Institute as part of the 80-hour follow-up (Passport) hours.

Teacher Module prerequisite: Completion of 9-10 Teacher Modules (32-40 hours).

Course No. X 324.341F Differentiated Reading Instruction

Course Description: Provides the primary teacher (and models for upper elementary teachers and special education teachers) how to develop a plan for differentiated instruction to meet the diverse needs of all students (including English learners and those at-risk). Presents a review of current research and theory related to the essential components of reading instruction. Offers practical strategies for implementing responsive instruction to all levels of learners by grade level (K-3, with grade 3 an appropriate model for grades 4-6).

Course No. X 324.342F Fluency Development

Course Description: Provides the classroom teacher with research and theory related to building reading fluency for all students, including English learners and special education students. Offers practical strategies for application. Explores the role of motivation in student success and offers suggestions and models to enhance family participation in fluency development.

Course No. X 324.343F Teaching Word Recognition

Course Description: Provides foundational information regarding instructional techniques for teaching the skills involved in decoding words (e.g. irregular spellings, multiple-syllable spellings, and reading fluency) for students with learning difficulties (those who are at-risk, with disabilities, and all children and adolescents who struggle with learning). Recommends scientifically validated practices to ensure at-risk students can master the process of reading words, for early readers through older students. Offers a continuum of instruction from oral language to reading comprehension; and resources for classroom usage.

Course No. X324.344F Developing Robust Vocabulary Knowledge

Course Description: Provides a research-based framework and practical strategies for vocabulary development with students from the earliest grades through high school. Emphasizes instruction the focuses on information about words and their uses. Guides teachers to select words for instruction, develop student-friendly explanations of new words, create meaningful learning activities; and involve students in thinking about, using, and noticing new words both within and outside the classroom. Offers concrete examples and exercises for teachers. Offers ways to adapt instruction for English language learners. Discusses assessments and interactive lesson planning.

Course No. X 324.350F English Language Essentials for Teaching Reading

Course Description: Provides an overview how written and spoken English are organized; presents the essential elements of phonetics, phonology, morphology, and English orthography required in learning to read; clarifies the meaningful relationships among words, phrases, and sentence structures with linkage to vocabulary development; offers information about the operation of syntactic structures in language; and references the known stages of reading and writing development and the required learning at each stage.

Course No. X 324.351F Essentials for Improving Reading Comprehension

Course Description: Provides an overview of the major factors that play a role in reading comprehension; presents the linkage between fluency and comprehension; offers strategies that support comprehension; describes approaches to instruction that improve vocabulary acquisition, grammatical awareness, text structure, language development as they relate to reading comprehension; and discusses the purposes of curriculum based and performance based reading comprehension assessment.

Course No. X 324.352F Study of the Evidence on Reading Research

Course Description: Provides a clear explanation of reading research methodology and convergence of evidence on which to base classroom practice; summarizes findings that have direct implications on instruction; explains why the scientific evidence is important to the teaching of specific technical skills; offers examples of various approaches based on longitudinal studies; identifies what research can and cannot explain; comments on why the National Reading Panel [2000] critics focus on process of selection of studies rather than on the Panel's findings; describes a research method for classroom observation; explains how reading policy is formed based on scientific evidence; and suggest what research activities are underway (including studies on special populations of students).

8 Quarter Unit Courses

Prerequisite: Completion of a 40-hour (5-day) professional development institute along with the completion of an 80-hour follow-up (Passport). Note: ELPD and coach institute participants are not eligible for the 8 unit course. See 4 quarter unit course options.

Course No. X 324.345P Reading Comprehension

Course Description: Provides a comprehensive guide to the teaching of reading comprehension. Recommends research-based strategies for assisting students at all grade levels understand and learn from what they read. Explains the skills and strategies that good readers use to comprehend text. Shows how to support struggling students in development these skills. Presents a variety of effective assessment procedures, ways to enhance vocabulary instruction. Provides instructional ways to teach students about different text structures. Promotes comprehension before, during, and after reading. Offers model lesson plans.

Course No. X 324.346P Writing Instruction

Course Description: Provides a guide as to why students have writing difficulties. Offers strategies for teaching planning, writing, and revising. Considers ways to apply writing strategies to various phases of the writing process. Addresses writing strategies for five genre: story writing, persuasive writing, writing explanations, writing comparison/ contrast paper, and report writing. Includes strategies for self-regulation and the writing process. Provides the how-to implement writing strategy instruction.

Course No. X 324.347P Written Language Development

Course Description: Provides a review of current research and theory related to written language development and disorders. Offers new understandings on normal and deviant spellings based on increased convergent empirical evidence. Discusses the relationships between written syntax, text cohesion and coherence, and text structures. Introduces an overview of writing curricula through the process approach, including a review of specific teaching methods for all stages of the writing process. Offers a review of standardized written language assessments.

Course No. X 324.348P Phonological Awareness

Course Description: Provides a comprehensive overview of the current scientific research on phonological awareness. Synthesizes the findings on the development of phonological awareness. Discusses its role in literacy learning. Offers strategies on how to teach students with reading deficits or speech and language impairments. Identifies several assessment tools and intervention frameworks for use by classroom teachers.

Course No. X 324.349P Foundations of Decoding and Spelling

Course Description: Provides a comprehensive guide from letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, to morpheme patterns in words that kindergarten to middle school students need to know for meeting proficiency on the California English/ Language Arts Content Standards. Offers a refresher course on language skills and structure: the three basic concepts for decoding words and spelling them; the origins of English words, affixes, roots and combining forms, multisyllabic words, and abstract concepts; the use of common consonant and vowel patterns, syllables, common spelling rules, prefixes and suffixes, roots, non-phonetic words, and contractions; the common Latin roots and Greek combining forms and new words entering the English language; and lesson plans that incorporate multisensory language-based instruction, samples of student work, explanations of current research, and extensive word lists.