M.A. in Reading

The M.A. in Reading is designed as an optional, part-time (6 units fall and 6 units spring) second year that builds upon the content of the Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist Credential (RLLSC) or the Reading and Literacy Added Authorization (RLLA) by enabling candidates to further develop their understanding of literacy theory and research based practices as they engage in original teacher research focused on their learners' literacy development.

NOTE:  The RLAA/RLLSC coursework serves as the first year of the M.A. in Reading Graduate Program. Candidates must successfully complete the RLAA and the RLLSC coursework in order to pursue the Masters of Arts in Reading.

Philosophy Statement

The M.A. in Reading, which includes the Reading and Literacy Added Authorization or Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist Credential, is a practitioner-centered program focusing on the interdisciplinary study of literacy from a variety of critical and sociocultural perspectives. Through these perspectives we emphasize culture and language in literacy instruction.

As a program, we follow the International Literacy Association’s definition of literacy as identifying, understanding, interpreting, creating, computing, and communicating with visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and contexts (2018). Skills like Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension, as well as literary response and critique, and writing/composition, are developed through the lens of cultural experiences, the use of socially-situated practices, and culturally sustaining materials. 

We believe all people are literate, and align with Kirkland (2013, p. xiv) who stated, “Literacy is a potential—complex, social, cultural, historical, and even political—that, like energy, is ever stored in the human bond. The practice of literacy is a release of this energy/potential, which always exists in every human’s ability/vocation to make sense of our world” (David Kirkland, 2013, p. xiv).

Career Opportunities

• Literacy coaches in schools
• Instructor at a community college
• Educational literacy consultant in private and public settings
• Diagnostician in reading clinics
• Resource teachers in schools and community literacy centers
• Consultant for publishing companies 

Program

• M.A. in Reading (30 units)  includes the RLAA and the RLLSC
  • *California Reading/Literacy Leadership Specialists Credential (RLLSC) (18 units)
  • *California Reading/Literacy Added Authorization (Certificate) (RLAA)  (15 units)

NOTE:  The RLAA/RLLSC coursework serves as the first year of the M.A. in Reading Graduate Program. Candidates must successfully complete the RLAA and the RLLSC in order to pursue the Masters of Arts in Reading.

For more information, contact Dr. Lisa Bennett, Literacy Program Coordinator, at lbennett@csufresno.edu.