Reading Specialist Certification

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Students seeking Reading Specialist certification must hold a master’s degree and a valid Texas teaching certification and verify a minimum of two years of approved successful full-time teaching experience. A passing score on the Reading Specialist Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES) is required. The plan consists of a minimum of 18-19 semester hours.

Students who meet the graduate admissions requirements to the College of Education (see Graduate Admissions Requirements) must meet additional requirements prior to being admitted to the Reading Specialist program. Each applicant must:

Have a GPA of 2.750 over the last 60 hours.
Provide proof of a valid Texas teaching certificate.
Provide a letter of support from a school building administrator.

Check prerequisites before enrolling in any courses.

Certificate Requirements

Required Reading courses (18 hours):

LLLS 6331 - Sociolinguistic Applications to Reading Credit Hours: 3
LLLS 6332 - Foundations of Early and Secondary Literacy Credit Hours: 3
LLLS 6333 - Genre Studies in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Credit Hours: 3
LLLS 6639 - Leadership in Clinical Practices in Assessment of Literacy Tasks Credit Hours: 3
LLLS 6732 - Assessment and Remediation of Reading and Language Arts Literacy Credit Hours: 3
LLLS 6839 - Practicum in School Literacy Practices Credit Hours: 3

Other course (1 hour):

LLLS 5010 - Professional Preparation Seminar for Reading Specialists Credit Hours: 1

Additional Information

Candidates must pass the Reading Specialist State Assessment by their final semester or enroll in and successfully complete this course.