A reading specialist looking at a book with a young child.

McGuffey Reading Services

The oldest, continuously running university-based reading service in the country.

McGuffey Reading Services at the University of Virginia's School of Education and Human Development is the oldest, continuously running university-based reading service in the country. McGuffey serves the local community and beyond to improve the lives of school-age children (pre-kindergarten through high school) who have experienced difficulty learning to read, write, and spell. As part of this mission, McGuffey offers the following services:  

  • Educational assessments for school-age children (pre-kindergarten through high school) and students in college or preparing to enter college
  • Reading intervention for children across the elementary grades and through middle school
As of April 18, 2024 registration for our summer 2024 reading intervention program is full. Please reach out to the McGuffey Reading Services team with any questions at 434-924-9349.

Scroll down for more information on educational assessments and reading interventions.

McGuffey Reading Service Offerings

Educational Assessments

A child reading a book at a table

McGuffey Reading Services offers comprehensive educational assessments for school-age children (pre-kindergarten through high school) and students in college or preparing to enter college. Assessments can span the academic domains of reading, writing, and math, but most often, educational assessments with McGuffey Reading Services focus on main areas of literacy development: reading, spelling, and writing.

We specialize in a variety of formal educational assessments and complete complimentary informal assessments to gain an in-depth understanding of someone’s literacy achievement. Our evaluations offer a close exploration of specific areas of concern such as reading readiness, reading fluency, reading comprehension, or continued spelling or word recognition difficulties. Families often reach out with questions about dyslexia and dysgraphia. McGuffey Reading Services often works on interdisciplinary evaluation teams to offer families more comprehensive psychoeducational testing when literacy is one area of particular concern.

Educational Assessments

For questions about educational assessments or to schedule an appointment, please reach out to the contact listed at the bottom of this page.

Reading Interventions

A child reading a book in a library

McGuffey’s reading programs are designed for school-age children in need of intervention to either maintain or work to build their literacy skills. Students attending our programs are in grades kindergarten through middle school. Our programs are designed to meet the needs, and build on the strengths, of students who may have struggled along their literacy path.

Program Features

Students work one-on-one or in small groups with teachers and trained tutors to develop an instructional program to best meet the needs of their students. Our lessons follow a structured literacy format and can include the following components based on individual needs:

  1.  Systematic teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, and spelling to build word recognition;
  2. Targeted fluency instruction to build reading accuracy, rate, and prosody;
  3. Advanced decoding and spelling examining syllables and meaning parts (including affixes and roots);
  4. Comprehension instruction to include both background knowledge/vocabulary and strategy use; and
  5. Writing instruction for application and/or for supporting comprehension.

Intervention Schedule

McGuffey reading interventions run on an academic schedule (i.e., fall, spring, summer). Our registration forms become available usually in July/August for fall sign-up, November/December for spring sign-up, and March/April for summer sign-up. We offer our available spots to current families first and then to new students on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to our limited number of spots, we encourage families to register as soon as the forms are available. 

Reading Interventions Key Information

  • Virtual Summer Intervention—Key Information - FULL
    • We are no longer taking registrations for virtual summer intervention
    • The summer session includes 18 lessons; the dates are June 17th-July 26th.
    • Each student participates in three lessons per week; each lesson lasts 45-50 minutes on average.
    • Scheduling is relatively flexible in terms of days of the week and times of day.
    • All virtual students will work with their tutor one-on-one.
    • The fee for summer is $525, and a need-based sliding scale is available. To confirm eligibility for the sliding scale, please submit a 2022 or 2023 IRS 1040 tax form with your registration form.
  • In-Person Summer Intervention-Key Information - FULL
    • We are no longer taking registrations for in-person summer intervention
    • The summer session includes 18 lessons; the dates are July 1st-3rd and July 8th-26th (no tutoring on July 4th or 5th).
    • Each student participates in a lesson every weekday throughout the tutoring date range; each lesson lasts 50 minutes on average.
    • Lessons will begin at either 4:00 or 5:00 PM every weekday.
    • In-person students may work with their tutor one-on-one or as part of a small group (no more than three students with a tutor).
    • The fee for summer is $525, and a need-based sliding scale is available. To confirm eligibility for the sliding scale, please submit a 2022 or 2023 IRS 1040 tax form with your registration form.

Registration Process

  • Complete the registration form and submit using the contact information on the form. Please note, as of April 18, 2024 summer intervention is full. If you are requesting the sliding scale, you should also submit your 2022 or 2023 IRS 1040 tax form.
  • Complete the scheduling survey. Reach out to the McGuffey Reading Services program (contact information at the bottom of this page) to receive a link to the scheduling survey.
  • Please note: Your registration is not complete until you have submitted both the form AND the survey.
     

For questions about the reading intervention program or registration process, please reach out to the McGuffey Reading Services program (contact information is found at the bottom of this page).

Reading Intervention Registration

Registration opens mid-March for our summer reading intervention programs. As of April 18, 2024 summer intervention is full.

Please note: Your registration is not complete until you have submitted both the form AND the scheduling survey linked here. 

The registration form is linked below.

Contact for Educational Assessments and Reading Interventions

If you are interested in these services please contact the McGuffey Reading Services team at 434-924-9349.

About McGuffey Reading Services

1937
Reading Clinic Established

The current reading program at the UVA School of Education and Human Development began with the establishment of a reading clinic in 1937.

1946
William Holmes McGuffey

In 1946, Professor Ullin Leavell reconfigured the clinic and named it after William Holmes McGuffey who had come to the University of Virginia in the 1800's as a professor of moral philosophy. Professor McGuffey is most well-known as the author of the famous McGuffey Eclectic Readers from which almost all children in this country learned to read. There were six readers in all—every child began with “Mary had a little lamb…” and proceeded through the six books, which contained lessons about being a good child and good behavior in general. The McGuffey Reading Clinic established by Leavell offered diagnosis and remediation of reading problems for children in the surrounding school divisions.

Edmund H. Henderson took over the leadership of McGuffey in 1969. The McGuffey Reading Clinic was renamed the McGuffey Reading Center to reflect the expanding activities in which faculty engaged. 

1989
McGuffey Reading Services

Since 1989, McGuffey Reading Services has worked with hundreds of students annually and has established itself as an important agency for the improvement of reading and spelling skills for people of all ages. McGuffey Reading Services is now housed on the ground floor of Bavaro Hall within the Sheila C. Johnson Center. McGuffey offers diagnostic and remedial services and is staffed by faculty and graduate students of the School of Education and Human Development.

Contact the Sheila C. Johnson Center

Sheila C. Johnson Center for Clinical Services

The Sheila C. Johnson Center for Clinical Services is a multidisciplinary clinic that provides personalized assessment and intervention services. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality science-based clinical services to the people of Charlottesville, the UVA community, Albemarle County, the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.

  • (434) 924-7034
  • Monday-Thursday: 8:30 am-5:30 pm; Friday: 8:30 am-5 pm