About the Center
The E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy is in the
the College of Education Building on the University
of Nevada, Reno campus.
For 37 years, we have helped children learn to read and write.
Our mission is to improve literacy instruction in Nevada through teacher education,
and to provide literacy services to children and adults in Northern Nevada.
Information for Parents: There are numerous
resources at the Center for parents of children who struggle with learning
to read and write. Tutoring programs are available throughout
the year and are conducted by qualified
preservice and inservice elementary teachers. During the fall and spring, children meet with tutors twice a week;
in the summer, children meet with their tutors four days each week. Students
usually attend for multiple semesters, and we work with many children over several
years. A progress report is mailed to parents to use in educational planning
at school and home. Approximately 200 children are enrolled in these programs
each year. A limited number of scholarships are available.
| Professional Development: Teachers and teacher leaders learn techniques to blend reading, word study and spelling instruction in professional development workshops. | |
Due to lower than expected registration, the 11th annual Words Your Way Workshop has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this decision may cause. If we can help you get professional development training at your school or district, please contact Regina Smith, resmith@unr.edu. |
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Reading Buddies: Through the Regents’ Award Program and America Reads university students are trained to tutor in Reading Buddies programs at elementary schools in the area. This year we have had tutoring programs in three local elementary schools. Reading Buddies is a developmental literacy program for children who experience difficulties learning to read, write and spell, and has been shown to be an effective program to help children learn to read and write.
Literacy Assessment: When a family or school district is especially concerned about a child’s development they may ask us to conduct a literacy assessment. The director works with graduate students to provide in-depth assessment to understand how the child is learning to read and write, and to make meaningful suggestions for educational planning at school, home, and for tutoring. We look at children's development, school programs, and interests in reading and writing.
| Nevada Reading Excellence Act Partnership (NREA): The Center for Learning and Literacy is taking an active role in NREA activities to provide a home for its activities, and office space and support for its staff, and a setting for graduate and undergraduate practical and model teaching in the afternoons and summers. The literacy faculty work closely with the 60 NREA schools and serve on the task force of this $26 million dollar grant. For more information about the NREA see their website at www.nevadarea.org. |  |
NREA Video...To view a 4
minute video about the NREA follow the links below. You will need windows
media player to view the video, if you don't have it, you can get it
here.
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Tutor Referrals: We refer parents to experienced tutors who tutor privately apart from our programs. This provides part-time work and valuable experience to many of our preservice teachers. This list is updated regularly, and extends to tutoring in other subject areas through high school. Go here for more tutoring information.
Chinese Classes: Most Saturdays, the Center is open to students enrolled in a program to teach Chinese reading to bilingual students at beginning, transitional and intermediate levels.
Research and Graduate Studies: The faculty in reading and language arts is involved in research in literacy development, word knowledge, secondary reading, and assessment. Recent projects include a study of the relationship between early reading and math development, as well as a study of the vocabulary development of high school students. The staff has written numerous books and articles. Many masters and doctoral students participate in research with literacy faculty. Graduate students and assistants from the department of Curriculum and Instruction work with the Center's staff. Through grant activity and fees, up to 15 graduate students and mentor teachers work in the Center each semester. Students' work is an essential component of our operations and mission.
Northern Nevada Writing Project (NNWP): We are
fortunate to share offices with the nationally acclaimed NNWP. The NNWP is
one of more than 170 affiliates of the National Writing Project. The goals
of the NNWP since 1982 have been to improve student writing by improving the
teaching of writing, to improve university and school professional development
programs for classroom teachers, and to increase the professional power of
classroom teachers. The activities of the NNWP include: teacher training workshops,
teacher research groups, Write Stuff and TWIST (summer writing programs for
students), Book-Out; Piñon Poetry Festival; parent/family writing nights;
distance education classes; secondary and elementary writing guides; and Project
Outreach. adults are conducted with recommendations for instruction. The staff
can also refer adults to local literacy programs. Visit them online http://www.unr.edu/educ/nnwp/
PALS: The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening
(PALS) was the standardized measure chosen by the Nevada Reading Excellence
Act partnership (NREA) as the measure that will be used throughout the partnership
in all local reading improvement schools and tutorials. PALS was developed
as a measure of children’s knowledge of important literacy fundamentals
(www.literacy.ddig.com).
The specific purposes of PALS are to:
- identify children who are relatively behind in their acquisition of important literacy fundamentals
- Provide teachers with diagnostic information that allows them to match reading instruction to specific literacy needs.
Students not meeting grade level criteria are provided with additional reading instruction. PALS-K is designed for kindergarten students and consists of seven subtasks. Certain subtask scores are combined to create a summed score which is used to identify students for additional instruction. PALS tasks were designed specifically to cover the important components of early literacy – components that were also identified in the Reading Excellence Act and the Reading First legislation. A Pre-K PALS and a Spanish version PALS are being used with some schools in the NREA partnership. For more information go to the PALS section of the NREA website.
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