Category Archives: Literacy Education

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Hi friends,

We don’t have Spring Break this semester, but we do get three Mind, Body, and Spirit Days. The first one is tomorrow, Feb 23. Please schedule some time to focus on your personal well-being tomorrow! You are important to us here in the Literacy Program. We support you as a student and as a human being. Times have been tough for awhile. But hang in there! We will get through this together.

with love, The Literacy Faculty

If you know of anyone who who might be interested in getting their Master’s in literacy, please pass this information on! The Literacy Program will be holding an Apply Now! event on Wednesday, March 24 at 5:00 to 6:30pm.

As we have at our Apply Now events in the past, we will waive the essay and letters of recommendation for applicants from our undergraduate programs.

Register to attend here! A reminder e-mail with the Webex link will be sent before the event!

If you are planning to graduate in May 2021, please be sure to apply for your degree online by January 1. See deadlines for Summer (August) and Fall (December) 2021 below.

Go to my.newpaltz.edu >> Graduation >> Degree Application to complete your application. More information can be found here.

Hello Literacy Education Community! We hope you all are doing well in these most unusual times.

No matter whether you’re a student, a teacher, or both right now — you are likely experiencing some type of online educational experience in your life at the moment. We hope it is going as smoothly as possible!

Please read ahead for updates on the GRE deadline & certification exam information.

GRE

If you have been accepted into the program and started your coursework, but still need to submit your GRE scores by the mid-point of this semester, the Graduate School has extended the deadline! The new deadline for submitted GRE scores this semester is November 2. Please contact your advisor with any questions or concerns.

Certification Exams

The Regents met on September 15 to discuss items related to addressing the COVID crisis and the reopening of schools.  As expected, the Board approved the extension of flexibilities related to the edTPA safety net (the ATS-W Elementary or Secondary as applicable) and the emergency COVID-19 certificate through the 2020-21 academic year:

https://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/920bra7revised.pdf

http://www.nysed.gov/news/2020/board-regents-acts-fifth-series-emergency-regulations-ease-burdens-educators-students-and

Eligibility for the edTPA safety net includes:

• Candidates who complete a student teaching or similar clinical experience during the 2020-2021 academic year while enrolled in a New York State registered teacher preparation program;
• Candidates who complete a student teaching experience during the 2020-2021 academic year while enrolled in an acceptable out-of-state teacher preparation program; and
• Candidates who complete the teaching experience requirement for certification through the individual evaluation pathway during the 2020-2021 academic year.

  Also, Safety Net Tests expiring this semester:

The revised Content Specialty Test (CST) in Visual Arts will become operational in November 2020:
http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/NY079_TestPage.html
The safety net for the CST in Visual Arts allows candidates to take either the applicable revised CST or the predecessor CST for one year after the revised CST becomes operational.

And there’s still room to sign up for this semester’s discounted remote DASA, SAVE & Child Abuse ID workshops: https://www3.newpaltz.edu/marketplace/store/61/category/62

*The Pell Grant/Excelsior Scholarship fee waivers are full for the SAVE & Child Abuse ID workshops, but there’s still room for DASA waivers.

And finally, for Educational Administration candidates, the launch date for the Revised (May 2019) School Building Leader (SBL) Assessment will now become operational in Spring 2021, instead of November 2020.

As an extra helpful bonus, here’s a video presentation on how to do everything regarding certification:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RKEGDirKDVidlqIHBmC7cKwO8g8oKP2X/view 

If you have additional questions about outstanding certification exams or requirements, contact Chris Whitaker (whitakc@newpaltz.edu).

Hello, Literacy Leaders!

This remains a very difficult time for many. Not only are we still living through a global pandemic — we are now also living through a historic uprising against racism and police brutality. There is much to think about and do as educators and leaders in these extraordinary times.

What follows is a brief collection of announcements, links, and reminders for you.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

The CARES Act provides funding for students for expenses related to the campus disruption as a result of coronavirus. Find out more here. The deadline to apply is June 25.

Teaching About Race, Racism, and Social (In)Justice in the Classroom

There are some really wonderful resources out there for talking about race, racism, and social (in)justice in the classroom. Here are a few more to add to your collection:

• Teaching Tolerance: resources for spurring discussion about implicit bias and systemic racism
• Black Lives Matter Instructional Library: collection of read alouds centering activism, empowerment, and social justice
• The 1619 Project: an ongoing project developed by The New York Times Magazine to re-examine the legacy of slavery in the United States
• Classroom Library Questionnaire: tool to do a diversity audit on your classroom (or home) library

Office Hours, Program Coordinating & Advising for Summer

Dr. Greene is coordinating the literacy education program for the summer semester (Fall officially begins on August 21) — if you have any paperwork, advising, or other program-related questions over the next few months, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with Dr. G at this link.

Wishing everyone a happy final few days of the school year!!

It’s hard to believe the semester is already coming to a close. It feels like we were just settling in after the campus water crisis when COVID-19 completely disrupted the spring semester for colleges and universities everywhere. It’s been a journey, to say the least!

If we were still having an in-person graduation ceremony today, those of you who are graduating in May and August 2020 would be preparing to walk across the stage to receive your diploma right around now. All of the literacy education faculty would be assembled, ready to cheer you on!! It’s something we look forward to every single year, and we are feeling the loss of that celebration today. But no one is feeling it more than the Class of 2020.

We are so incredibly proud of you!! And we made a Padlet to say so:

And here’s a video created by faculty in the School of Education congratulating all education graduates in the Class of 2020!:

We look forward to working with those of you who are starting or returning for classes this summer and fall. And we will miss those of you who are graduating very, very much!

Be well and stay safe. CONGRATULATIONS, LITERACY LEADERS of the CLASS of 2020!!