Curriculum & Instruction - Reading Education: M.Ed. - Master of Education

Coursework

To learn more about specific courses taken as part of the completion of this degree, visit the Graduate Record website. These webpages represent the official repository for academic program requirements. A link to these publications can be found in the Curriculum Information section at the bottom of this page.

The M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction - Reading Education is a 30-hour degree. Teachers in Virginia who wish to add the Commonwealth of Virginia’s K12 reading specialist endorsement to their teaching license must take an additional three credit hours (3) in one of our summer reading clinics (degree + 3 hours). The degree plus 3 is a state-approved curriculum for preparing teachers for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s K12 reading specialist endorsement. 

M.Ed. Curriculum & Instruction - Reading Education Courses

• EDIS 7700 (3 units) Reading Foundations for Diverse Learners
• EDIS 7720 (3 units) Understanding the Code: Phonics, Phonological Awareness, Orthography
• EDIS 7710 (3 units) Reading and Writing Across the Content Areas
• EDIS 5235 (1 unit) Evidence-Based Practice for Students with Dyslexia
• EDIS 7730 (2 units) Reading Assessment and Data-Based Decision Making
• EDIS 5730 (3 units) Diagnosis & Remediation I: Word-Based Assessment and Intervention
• EDIS 5740 (3 units) Diagnosis & Remediation II: Meaning-Based Assessment and Intervention
• EDIS 5425 (3 units) Teaching Writing
• EDIS 7760 (3 units) Reading Development, Assessment, and Interventions with Special Populations
• EDIS 7751 (3 units) Literacy Leadership and Coaching
• Choose between EDIS 7310 Children’s Literature and EDIS 5410 Young Adult Literature (3 units)

Added Clinical Course for VA K12 Reading Specialist Endorsement

EDIS 7740 (3 units) Practicum in Reading Intervention

Note: If you are planning to add the VA K12 Reading Specialist Endorsement please see the Reading Specialist Endorsement tab for additional requirements.

Culminating Experience

M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction - Reading Education students need to pass a comprehensive examination in order to graduate. The comprehensive exam consists of a series of multiple-choice questions and case studies. Students will complete the exam during their last semester of coursework.

Writing Sample Guidelines

The writing sample is designed for two purposes:

1. To demonstrate your ability to work in an academic graduate program; and
2. To help us get to know you better by learning about your background knowledge and interests within the field of reading education.

The piece of writing you submit must be your own original and independent work. You may adapt your sample from work that you have already written for another purpose.

If you have questions about the writing sample, please reach out to the contact listed further down on this page.

Topic:
Compose an essay that explores your position on a current issue in the field of reading or writing education. You should choose a topic that is relevant to your work with students or teachers. You may choose a broad topic (e.g., the role of RTI/MTSS in preventing reading difficulties, the importance of explicit and systematic instruction) or you may choose to focus on a more specific issue (e.g., the role of comprehension strategies vs. background knowledge in comprehension instruction, benefits of using decodable texts in phonics instruction).

Your essay should briefly describe the issue and clearly espouse a point of view. You must support your viewpoint with appropriate vocabulary, details, and sources.

Instructions:

1. Your essay should be a total of 3-4 pages long (not including reference list).
2. Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font.
3. You should use a formal writing style, such as APA or MLA, to guide your headers and citations.
4. You should cite a minimum of 4 sources within the body of the paper and as a reference list at the end. You should select quality resources that are credible and appropriate for your topic. You may choose to include one seminal resource that may be more dated, but otherwise your resources should be recent (generally from about the past 10 years or so).

Commonwealth of Virginia's K-12 Reading Specialist Endorsement Process

After completing the academic master’s degree (30 credits) and the clinical course (3 credits), three years of successful teaching during which time the teaching of reading was a major responsibility, and receiving a passing score on the Reading Specialist Praxis test (#5302), a graduate can apply for the commonwealth’s K12 reading specialist endorsement to be added to their teaching license. Please note that the M.Ed. in Reading Education program is NOT a route to obtaining an initial teaching license. 

Process for Adding the Endorsement:

• If you are currently employed by a Virginia educational agency, please work directly with your HR department to submit the paperwork for adding an endorsement to your license after you have completed your degree. You will need two things from UVA to complete this paperwork: 1) an official transcript and 2) a College Verification Form (CVF). Please wait until your degree is conferred to request these items from UVA.
• You can obtain an official transcript from the UVA Registrar. You may request a paper copy or electronic copy be sent to the VDOE.
• To obtain the CVF, email [email protected] with your full name (as it appears on your license) and date of birth. Once the dean’s office has confirmed you have completed the necessary coursework, the CVF will be emailed back to you along with directions for what to send the VDOE.

Note: The Virginia K12 reading specialist endorsement requires applicants to take a Child Psychology or Human Growth and Development course. This psychology course is not required for the M.Ed. program but is required for a Commonwealth of Virginia teaching license and students who have already taken this course as a part of their initial licensure program do not need to take another one. Students who do not have the requisite psychology course on their undergraduate or graduate transcript will need to fulfill this requirement in order to add the endorsement.