WRS Group Mastery Practicum
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This Wilson Reading System® (WRS) practicum requires successful delivery of a minimum of 50 lessons to an approved group of three to four students. All students in the small group must reach Substep 3.1 or higher, and at least three videoed lessons must be submitted for review and feedback.

Learn more about:

Registration Process
Prerequisites
Duration
Requirements
Practicum Student Selection Criteria
Materials
Upon Completion
Graduate Credit

Registration Process

Interested in registering? All Wilson Reading System Level I and Level II Practicum lessons must be delivered using 4^th edition materials.

Individuals interested in this professional learning offering can register online. We recommend that you review the course information below and contact us if you have any questions.

Schools and districts interested in exploring the option of including Wilson Reading System® Level II Certification for their teachers as part of a COMPASS Plan are encouraged to contact us to start the discussion.

Prerequisites

WRS Level I Certification
Bachelor’s degree in education or a related field
Current enrollment in or completion of WRS Advanced Strategies for Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) Group Instruction Course within the past 3 years

Duration

Must be completed within 15 months from start date
At least 50 practicum lessons

Requirements

Submit a pretesting report on each practicum student, including educational history and current test results.
Conduct a minimum of 50 lessons to a small group of students in accordance with the WRS Group Mastery Practicum Study Guide. Instruction must be with WRS 4^th Edition materials.
Provide documentation of written lesson plans.
Submit a minimum of three videoed lessons for observational review and feedback.
Develop teacher binder and maintain student portfolio (including student notebook and students’ written work) in accordance with WLT program standards.
Conduct End-Of-Step Assessment Lessons, documenting students’ mastery and progress.
Demonstrate proficiency of lesson plan procedures with an emphasis on both accuracy and fluency (documented and approved by Wilson^® Credentialed Trainer) delivered in a small-group setting.
Demonstrate understanding of language concepts through accurate teaching with multisensory procedures to a small group of students.
Demonstrate individual student success and mastery of decoding, encoding, and comprehension skills.
Conduct posttesting and submit the WRS Group Mastery Practicum Students Final Report and related documents after a minimum of 50 lessons and achievement of WRS Substep 3.1.
Complete required reading and the required reading assessment.

Practicum Student Selection Criteria

Select a group of 3-4 students for the WRS Group Mastery Practicum. Each student must be pretested using the WADE and an approved, norm-referenced test. The Practicum Student Pretesting Form must be submitted to the assigned Wilson® Credentialed Trainer for review and approval. Once the trainer approves the small group, practicum lessons may begin.
Students must:

Have significant decoding difficulty.
Be of similar age, grade, and cognitive ability.
Be able to begin instruction at the same substep as determined by WADE mastery scores. (This applies to students who have had previous WRS instruction.)
Be grouped according to word attack scores if new to the program (0-15%, 16-30%).
Be available to receive at least five 45-minute, four 60-minute, or three 90-minute lessons per week. (Five 75-90-minute lessons per week is optimal.)
Be free of major behavioral problems and/or severe language-based difficulties that may affect the group’s progression or achievement.

Materials

Required

WRS Introductory Set Steps 1-6, 4^th Edition, containing instructor and student materials
WRS Student Readers Steps 1-6 (one set per student)
WRS Student Portfolio (one per student)
WRS Magnetic Journal with Phoneme Tiles (one per student)
WRS End-of-Step Assessment Materials (one per student)

Upon Completion

Individuals who successfully meet all requirements of this practicum are able to:

Identify the characteristics of dyslexia and related language-based learning disabilities.
Use assessments to identify students with word-level deficits who are appropriate for an intensive intervention in a small, homogeneous group setting.
Diagnostically plan and deliver group lessons, while addressing and understanding individual student weaknesses that impact the ability to learn to read and write.
Plan and conduct group lessons that address the individual needs within the group, and foster a positive instructional climate with clearly established rules and routines.
Guide students to correct errors through questioning and use of their notebooks.
Appropriately pace a group of students through the curriculum, developing mastery of material taught, designing group lessons that focus on accuracy, automaticity, and fluency of word and text reading.
Effectively utilize multisensory structured language (MSL) instructional techniques, and demonstrate explicit teaching, modeling, guided practice, appropriate feedback, and consistent review in lessons in the group setting.
Deepen skills developed in the WRS Level I Certification.

Participants who have successfully completed this course are specialized in implementing WRS in a small-group setting, but are not considered WRS Level II Certified unless they have completed all four advanced courses.

Graduate Credit

Three graduate credits (optional) are available through Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA, upon completion of course requirements. Please see Process for Graduate Credit for details.

WRS Group Mastery Practicum Listen