Overview of the Program

The Certificate in Teaching Reading to Adults (TRA Certificate) is a collaborative program between Sacramento State's departments of English, Teacher Education, and Learning Skills. It is designed for people who plan to work with adult learners in community colleges, adult schools, community literacy programs, or other settings. 

The training offered by the program will provide:

• an understanding of the theory and pedagogy of developmental reading for native speakers and ESL students
• the skills and strategies to use with adult learners
• the capability to assess readers, programs, and texts
• hands-on experience in an adult reading class

Participating Faculty

Roberta Ching (Learning Skills), John Clark (English), Fiona Glade (English), Julian Heather (English), Sue McKee (Learning Skills), Marcy Merrill (Teacher Education), John Shefelbine (Teacher Education)

Application Information

All students in the program must have graduate student status:

• Students who are in a graduate degree program at Sacramento State should meet with the program coordinator to complete necessary paperwork.
• Students who are not in a graduate degree program at Sacramento State should apply to the university as graduate students. Under program, choose Certificate in Teaching Reading to Adults (NOTE: the university also offers a Reading Certificate for K-12 educators. Please make sure you choose the correct program.)

Application deadlines:

• October 1 for Spring admission
• March 1 for Fall admission

All applicants must complete the University’s Writing Proficiency Exam (WPE).

International students must achieve minimum scores on the TOEFL as follows:

• 600 or higher on the traditional TOEFL, with a score of 5 on the Test of Written English (TWE)
• OR 250 or higher on the computerized TOEFL, with a score of 5 on the Test of Written English
• OR 100 or higher on the ibt TOEFL, with a minimum of 24 on the writing section.

Certificate Requirements

The reading certificate requires 15 units of coursework with a minimum GPA of 3.0. 

Required Coursework
(clicking on the course will open a course description in a new window)

• EDTE 207:  Advanced Practicum in Reading Difficulties--Assessment and Intervention
• EDTE/ENGL 225C:  Theoretical Issues in Adult Literacies
• ENGL 410L: Internship in Teaching Adult Reading
• ENGL 215A:  ESL Reading and Vocabulary Acquisition
• EDTE 205:  Research in the Psychology and Sociology of Reading

Course Offerings

EDTE 205	Fall only
EDTE 207	Fall only
ENGL 215A	Spring only
ENGL 410L	Spring only
EDTE/ENGL 225C	every third semester (next offering is Fall 2009)

For more information, contact the Program Coordinator: Professor Marcy Merrill CSU Sacramento Department of Teacher Education 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819-6079 office phone: (916) 278-5524 e-mail: merrills@csus.edu FAX: (916) 278-6643

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