Professional Development
As a Wilson®Accredited Training Partner, we are able to provide professional learning workshops to individual educators and school districts in Wilson® Reading System, Fundations®, and Just Words®. Workshops listed on our events page are public offerings. If you are coordinating professional learning for a school system or large group, please contact us directly to schedule your private event. Private events may be virtual or in-person.
Our status as a Wilson® Accredited Training Partner affords us the ability to supervise educators through Wilson® Reading System Level I and Level II certifications. This page describes the many learning opportunities our credentialed trainers can offer. Follow the links to register for upcoming trainings. Please let us know how we may help your further.
The Wilson® Reading System (WRS) is a research-based structured multisensory literacy program based on the Orton-Gillingham® principles. WRS is an intensive Tier III reading program for students who have not achieved success with traditional instructional methods. As part of the WRS program, students receive specialized instruction in the areas of decoding, encoding, high frequency words, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. The program is aligned to the Common Core Learning Standards and provides daily progress monitoring and prescriptive systematic instruction.
WRS Introductory Course | WRS Level I Certification | WRS Advanced Strategies for MSL Group Instruction Course | WRS Advanced Word Study Online Course (Steps 7-12) |
The three-day (16.5 hours) WRS Introductory course provides an overview of the WRS 4th Edition curriculum and serves as the prerequisite for WRS Level I certification. The course, delivered over three consecutive days, examines reading research and the five areas of reading in relation to students in grade 2 through adult with persistent phonological coding deficits. Participates will learn about dyslexia, appropriate student identification, placement into the program and program implementation. Additionally, participants will learn how to monitor progress, schedule and create a successful learning environment. | This intensive instruction for the Non-Responsive Reader (Steps 1-6) and the WRS Steps 1-6 Practicum is intended to prepare the participant to effectively implement a multisensory structured language (MSL) reading program. Each participate will acquire a sophisticated working knowledge of the sound-symbol system of English (phonology), the rules that govern spelling and its structure (morphology), as well as the use of specific diagnostic instruction methods. Satisfying the requirements of this course includes the identification, assessment and approval of a practicum student in grade 4-12 with significant word-level deficits. The practicum student must be available for a minimum 2-3 tutoring lessons per week until a minimum 65 lessons are met. Each session requires 60-90 minutes in length. Prerequisite: WRS Introductory Course within the past 5 years. | This three-day (15 hours) course delves into essential techniques and strategies to improve all aspects of WRS group instruction through hands-on practice and discussion, and prepares participants for the Group Mastery Practicum. Participants will analyze the specifics of each WRS lesson plan block, with an increased focus on vocabulary, comprehension and fluency instruction. Prerequisite: WRS Level I Certification | The Advanced Word Study course provides in-depth strategies to implement multisensory structured language (MSL) instruction. This 55-hour online course provides instruction in advanced concepts of decoding and encoding to effectively use multisensory techniques to teach more complicated structures of the English language. The Advanced Word Study course is aligned with the systematic sequence of Wilson Reading System (WRS) Steps 7-12, including spelling option procedures, additional suffixes, contractions, and the following syllable types: r-controlled, and vowel digraph/diphthong. Detailed instruction is provided for each of the substeps through video demonstrations by author, Barbara Wilson, animations, text, printable materials, and assessments. Prerequisite: Completion of the WRS Intensive Instruction for the Non-Responsive Reader (Steps 1-6) Online Course. |
Steps 7-12 Practicum | WRS Group Mastery |
In the WRS Steps 7-12 Practicum, participants focus on advanced word study and application of reading and writing skills with progressively more challenging levels of text. The practicum requires successful delivery of a minimum of 50 lessons with an approved student, and submission of at least 3 video-recorded lessons for observation and feedback. Prerequisite: WRS Level I Certification and enrollment or completion of corresponding advanced coursework WRS Advanced Word Study Online Course (Steps 7-12). | This practicum requires successful delivery of a minimum of 50 lessons with an approved group of 3 to 6 students reaching Substep 3.1 or higher, and submission of at least 3 video-recorded lessons for observation and feedback. Prerequisite: WRS Level I Certification and current enrollment in or completion WRS Advanced Strategies for Multisensory Structured Language Group Instruction Course within the past 3 years. |
For more than a decade, Wilson Language brings systematic and explicit instruction to K-3 classrooms with the Fundations® program. Fundations® makes learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for life-long literacy. Students in grades K-3 receive a systematic program in critical foundational skills. Fundations® serves as a prevention program to help reduce reading and spelling failure. It is integral to a Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RTI) framework, providing research-based instruction in Tier 1 as well as early intervention (Tier 2) for students at risk for reading difficulties. To support the implementation of an MTSS or RTI framework, progress monitoring is built into Fundations®. This allows students requiring a more intensive program to be identified early before undergoing years of struggle.
Fundations® Virtual Launch Workshop | Fundations® Level K, 1, 2 or 3 |
Fundations® Virtual Launch Workshops (instructor-led) provide the practice and guidance needed to effectively begin teaching the Fundations® curriculum. This highly interactive remote workshop was developed with extensive participant input during the spring/early summer of 2020. It was designed to maintain participation and motivation for optimal learning, with strategically placed breaks and an extended lunch. Additionally, the workshop design allows for teacher input and active engagement via activities and discussions throughout each session. | The Fundations® workshop provides the practice and guidance needed to effectively begin teaching the Fundations® curriculum for a Tier 1 class setting. Participants will learn the skills necessary to teach Fundations® for each respective level. Topics such as phonemic awareness; the alphabetic principle; sound mastery; ways to form the key linkages—letter name, formation, and the sound represented by the letter(s); vocabulary; high frequency/trick words; fluency; comprehension strategies; manuscript handwriting, spelling, and punctuation. |
Just Words® is a highly explicit, multisensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4–12 and adults who have mild to moderate gaps in their decoding and spelling proficiency but do not require intensive intervention. The program is designed for students with below-average decoding and spelling scores and should be combined with other literature-rich programs.
Just Words® aligns with a school or district’s Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RTI) framework of instruction by delivering a Tier 2 intervention addressing a sophisticated study of word structure with explicit teaching of “how English works” for both decoding and spelling automaticity. It is designed for students who can benefit from the targeted word study focus without requiring the more comprehensive intervention of the Wilson® Reading System.
