Literacy Specialist Certificate

After completing the Literacy Specialist Certificate, students will be able to:

• Design a professional development school-wide program for teachers to improve literacy K-12 classrooms.
• Apply current American educational curriculum theory to comprehensive literacy program development.
• Apply design-based research project to evaluate and refine educational interventions and practices in literacy.

Applying to the Program:
The Literacy Specialist Certificate only admits students for a spring entrance term.

Apply by submitting a Graduate School application.

Application Deadline:
The application deadline is April 15.

Application Requirements:
Applicants must:

• Have obtained initial Teacher Certification
• Have completed required prerequisite courses
  • EDLT 8100, EDLT 8120, EDLT 8130 or 8370, EDLT 8170 – The courses that comprise the Literacy Teacher Certificate
  • EDLT 8160 or 8240, EDLT 8190, EDLT 8200) – The courses that comprise the Literacy Coach Certificate
• Submit a copy of their unofficial transcript(s), official transcript(s) will be required if upon acceptance, via the online application.
  • Transcript(s) should show evidence of prerequisite course completion

The Literacy Specialist Certificate requires the completion of the four courses listed below. All courses are three credit hours. Courses are taught either asynchronously or synchronously online.

 To gain this endorsement in South Carolina you must have:

• Literacy Teacher Certification
• Literacy Coach Certification
• All required courses for Literacy Specialist 
• Five Years of Successful Teaching Experience 

EDLT 8180 Organization, Administration and Supervision in Literacy
Focuses on planning, organizing, implementing, supervising and administering school-wide, comprehensive literacy programs. Emphasis is given to development of school-wide literacy program evaluation, accountability, improvement and support.

EDLT 8210 Practicum in Literacy Coaching
Approaches to literacy coaching that develop the teacher’s knowledge, decision-making skills and reflection techniques are emphasized. Roles and responsibilities of a coach are enacted within classroom and school contexts. Mentoring is provided by a local school-based coach and university faculty.

ED 9540 Curriculum Theory*
Main currents of curriculum theory in American education.

EDF 9810 Design Based Research* 
Addresses the perspectives and frameworks for conducting design-based research toward refining educational interventions and practices.

* denotes course taught synchronously online

Tuition and Fees
The Literacy Specialist Certificate is offered at our tier three online tuition rate - approximately $519 per credit/$640 per credit hour with fees.*

South Carolina Teacher Incentive
The Literacy Specialist Certificate offers a South Carolina Teacher Incentive reducing tuition by 10% for all South Carolina K-12 teachers/leaders.

Financial Aid
For information regarding financial aid, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid.

* Tuition and fees are subject to change. The information provided on this webpage is only an approximation.

For more information regarding the certificate or questions associated with applying to the certificate, please contact Madison Hudson at mhedden@clemson.edu.