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RCCI Services

IDOE Approved Offerings

The Reading Clinic of Central Indiana offers three training options approved by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). Visit the IDOE Literacy Department for a complete list of approved Early Literacy Endorsement Verified Professional Development Programs.

Part 1: Scientifically-Based Reading Instruction (Instructional Design)

20 hours

This hybrid training includes one 6-hour in-person day with a 14-hour online module.

School/District: $3,500 – for up to 50 participants
Individual: $150

Scientifically-based reading instruction reflects research on content and teaching methods to maximize student outcomes. Reading Science frameworks illustrate the relationship between word recognition and language comprehension instruction on global reading outcomes. The reciprocal relationship between oral and print language (word recognition) is strong. By understanding these frameworks, and how these language components develop, we are better informed to design and deliver effective instruction. By coupling guidance on what to teach with knowledge of stages of mastery and cognitive load theory, we can better design instruction that supports students toward proficiency.

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Part 2: Word Recognition: The Orton-Gillingham Approach

30 hours

This in-person training is designed for five, 6-hour consecutive days but may be adjusted for other configurations.

School/District: $15,000 – for up to 50 participants
Individual: $550

*Note: This fee includes a training manual. Card decks are not provided.

Orton-Gillingham (OG) is a structured approach for teaching students how to connect spoken and print language. It follows an explicit, systematic, and multimodal lesson structure for delivering synthetic phonics instruction. An OG lesson's part-to-whole, cumulative review, and back-mapping structure support students in applying and generalizing their knowledge to improve decoding and encoding skills. This course covers the following topics to support educators in improving students’ reading and spelling outcomes.

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Part 3: Language Comprehension

30 hours

This hybrid training includes two 6-hour in-person days with an 18-hour online module.

School/District: $7,000 – for up to 50 participants
Individual: $300

Comprehension instruction is often associated with skills like finding a text's main idea and supporting details or practicing strategies like summarizing to make meaning. But if a reader doesn’t have sufficient knowledge of the topic, doesn’t know what many of the words mean, or is confused by how a sentence is worded, the reader cannot comprehend the text (even if decoding isn’t a problem). The reader can’t “main idea” or summarize something that is not understood. Comprehension is not a set of skills we can teach that are general to all passages. Instead, we must focus on developing a strong foundation of general skills.

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Objectives

Examine the defining features and common misconceptions of reading science.
Identify the research base that makes this a scientifically-based model
Review research-based frameworks that define learning targets for developing reading proficiency.
Outline the critical components of an effective literacy block.
Recognize the stages skills progress through by examining the Instructional Hierarchy.
Examine the role of working memory in the learning process to understand how forms of cognitive load (intrinsic, extraneous, and germane) affect learning.
Identify practices that maximize instruction and improve student outcomes.

Objectives

Outline the complex component of language comprehension to understand that it is not a single skill that can be taught but an outcome of integrating many skills.
Summarize the impact of prior knowledge in making meaning and how to support front-loading knowledge to maximize learning.
Explain the role of word-level meaning (vocabulary) and context-meaning (semantics) in comprehension.
Summarize the effectiveness of morphological awareness in vocabulary building (breadth) and precision (depth).
Describe the impact of syntactic awareness on sentence-level comprehension and how to support the development of this skill within the language arts block.
Identify different text microstructures and how to help students recognize and use this knowledge to improve understanding.
Describe how knowledge of text features supports organizing information to improve understanding.
Summarize the importance of dialogic reading in instructional design for supporting the application of and integration of multiple language comprehension skills.
Explain the importance of frequent and informal checks to support and measure comprehension. Describe the importance of graphic organizers, visuals, and tools beyond text in supporting language development and aiding in building schema.
Explain evidence-based practices for aligning composition work with comprehension instruction.

Objectives

Examine the role of oral language development in reading proficiency.
Outline the progression from phonological to phonemic awareness and how these skills support decoding and encoding.
Summarize research on the impact of dysfluent handwriting on written expression and describe evidence-based practices for handwriting instruction.
Explain the alphabetic principle and the reciprocity between decoding and encoding.
Identify the six basic syllable types in English and explain how knowledge of syllable types supports decoding unfamiliar words.
Apply knowledge of common syllable division patterns to support decoding of multisyllabic words.
Identify phonetically irregular words and describe evidence-based practice for supporting students to read and spell irregular words.
Apply knowledge of suffix addition rules to support reading and spelling words with common affixes.
Examine the importance of decodable text to develop word recognition proficiency.
Observe OG lesson demonstrations, partner practice, debrief
Connect the research on the instructional design of an OG lesson.
Implement a problem-solving approach to intensify instruction across Tiers

Indiana’s Early Literacy Endorsement is legislatively-required for those who plan to renew a Professional Educator License while teaching literacy to PK through grade five students. This endorsement was developed to ensure that Indiana educators have the necessary skills and knowledge in science of reading to best serve our students and ensure 95% of third grade students can read by 2027.

To support Indiana’s statewide goal of ensuring 95% of third grade students can read by 2027, House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1558 (2023) required the Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) to establish a required early literacy endorsement for future teachers applying for an initial Professional Educator License covering the Pre-K-5 grade span or special education after June 30, 2025. To further strengthen the professional knowledge of educators who already hold an existing Pre-K-5 or special education license, Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1 (2024) revised Indiana Code (IC) 20-28-5-19.7 to also require current teachers to add the early literacy endorsement at the time of their license renewal that falls on or after July 1, 2027. SEA 1 also includes a new section, IC 20-28-5-19.8, which details how an educator may apply for a waiver that provides a one year extension to meet the early literacy endorsement requirements in some cases, which IDOE must submit in a report to the Legislative Council by a specified date. This legislation also requires instructional coaches to have an early literacy endorsement beginning July 1, 2025, for schools with an IREAD pass rate below 70%.

- Indiana Department of Education, Literacy Development (12/23/2024)

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Conference Presentations and Professional Development

Intensifying Interventions: The Power of Practice

2 Hours
This in-person training can be delivered to a mixed audience (K-6) or in grade-level specific bands. A middle and high school version is also available.

School/District/Organization: $1,500 – Unlimited participants

Objectives

Summarize the stages of mastery and how to identify each of the four stages.
Describe the different forms of practice and how each serves a specific purpose.
Identify which forms of practice are most effective at each stage of learning.
Explain how cognitive load theory intersects with research on practice.

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Scientifically-Based Reading Instruction

2 Hours
This in-person training can be delivered to a mixed audience (K-6) or in grade-level specific bands. A middle and high school version is also available.

School/District/Organization: $1,500 – Unlimited participants

Objectives

Review research-based frameworks that define learning targets for developing reading proficiency.
Outline the critical components of an effective literacy block.
Identify practices that maximize instruction and improve student outcomes.
Summarize reading science frameworks and the importance of aligning instruction and assessment tools with these frameworks.
Describe the essential components for building word recognition and language comprehension proficiency.

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Scientifically-Based Written Expression Instruction

6 Hours
This in-person training can be delivered to a mixed audience (K-2), (3-6), or in grade-level specific bands. A middle and high school version is also available.

School/District: $3,500 – for up to 50 participants

Individual: $150

Objectives

Review research-based frameworks that define learning targets for developing written expression proficiency.
Outline the critical components of an effective literacy (reading and writing) block.
Identify practices that maximize instruction and improve student outcomes.
Describe the essential components for connecting word recognition and transcription proficiency.
Describe the essential components for connecting language comprehension and composition proficiency.

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Cognitive Load Theory in Instructional Design

2 Hours
This in-person training can be delivered to a mixed audience (K-12) or in grade-level specific bands.

School/District/Organization: $1,500 – Unlimited participants

Objectives

Describe constrained and unconstrained skills and how they relate to cognitive load.
Summarize research on cognitive load theory.
Describe the three different types of load and how they impact learning outcomes.
Outline the effectiveness of backward design in maximizing learning outcomes.
Explain when and why exposure to content students lack essential prerequisite skills can have negative consequences.
Describe constrained and unconstrained skills and how they relate to cognitive load.

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Small-Group Instruction

2 Hours
This in-person training can be delivered to a mixed audience (K-2), (3-6), or in grade-level specific bands.
A middle and high school version is also available.

School/District/Organization: $1,500 – Unlimited participants

Objectives

Identify the purpose of universal screeners and how to use this data to understand the scope of instructional needs.
Identify the purpose of diagnostic assessments and their connection to differentiation.
Identify the purpose of progress-monitoring tools and their connection to evaluating instruction.
Examine data-based decision-making models for small-group instruction.

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Intensifying Interventions: The Power of Practice

Across disciplines, researchers have sought to understand the optimal conditions for facilitating the retrieval process that learners must employ to locate and then use the information to engage in performance tasks. In understanding this process, researchers question the number of repetitions learners need. These tasks elicit stronger connections and more immediate retrieval of information, and whether there is any way to ensure this information is retrievable and retained over time. Awareness of the type, time, and level of support each practice form offers is essential in supporting instructors in effectively designing instruction. Considering how to interleave old content with new, distributing practice over time, and gradually reducing our support from prompted and guided to independent practice is key to permanent knowledge. The content we teach is critical, but practice makes it powerful.

Scientifically-Based Written Expression Instruction

Reading Science frameworks illustrate the relationship between word recognition and language comprehension instruction on global reading outcomes. These frameworks are also effective for planning and delivering writing instruction. Just as word recognition is essential for supporting students in accessing text, transcription skills are essential to support students in producing text. The same skills students learn in word recognition instruction must be applied systematically to build transcription fluency. The knowledge, vocabulary-building, and syntactic awareness skills developed in the language comprehension block should be used to support students in building composition skills. Student outcomes improve when written expression instruction is intentionally coordinated with reading instruction.

Scientifically-Based Reading Instruction

Reading Science frameworks illustrate the relationship between word recognition and language comprehension instruction on global reading outcomes. The reciprocal relationship between oral and print language is strong. By understanding these frameworks, and how these language components develop, we are better informed to design and deliver effective instruction. By coupling guidance on what to teach with knowledge of stages of mastery and cognitive load theory, we can better design instruction that supports students toward proficiency.

Cognitive Load Theory in Instructional Design

Working memory is not a passive observer in the learning process — it is the gatekeeper, the active participant, that determines the extent and quality of our learning. It is a critical element that impacts why the learning process can be more labor-intensive for some students than others. By understanding the limitations of working memory, we can make sense of students' challenges when transitioning from acquisition to fluency, from fluency to generalization, and from generalization to adaptation. This is a critical consideration for educators and instructional designers for guiding the development of instructional strategies and materials that foster learning.

Small-Group Instruction

Instructional time spent in a small-group setting is a precious commodity. We must use it thoughtfully and intentionally because even the most well-designed independent activities are less effective than time with a skilled teacher. Therefore, our first goal is to prevent the number of students that require small-group interventions. We can accomplish this by solidifying our core instruction and rethinking how we deliver targeted interventions. When many students need specific skill support, we can provide that intervention within our whole-group lessons. This requires data-driven decision-making and thoughtful planning to identify which skills need whole-group versus small-group instruction. We can then reserve small-group instruction for targeting skills that few students need to develop. Effective small-group instruction is targeted and data-driven. It is designed to give students additional practice and feedback on a specific skill. It does not replace Tier 2 and 3 interventions but may enhance and reinforce that instruction. We should ask ourselves what a specific student, or group of students, needs that is different from everyone else in the class. That answer sets the purpose for small-group instruction. If each small group receives the same or similar instruction, the instruction is not targeted and does not justify small-group structure.