About This Series

Dyslexia is a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in Basic Reading Skills and/or Reading Fluency. Students with an SLD in Reading Comprehension may also have word-level weaknesses contributing to their reading difficulty. In addition, students with dyslexia often have difficulties with written expression. As a special educator,  you are likely sought out as a source of knowledge about dyslexia.  Your colleagues rely on you for guidance on how to provide intensive intervention and supports for students with characteristics of dyslexia, based on student need.  

This professional learning series builds both knowledge and practical skills for those who teach middle and high school students with intensive literacy needs. Participants will be enrolled in Blackboard Ultra, our online learning management system (LMS), which provides access to short, pre-recorded videos and readings. This online content provides important background knowledge that will prepare participants for  monthly in-person meetings on campus.  Building this foundational knowledge prior to each in-person session enables the instructors to use class time to dive into case studies and teaching strategies.* 

You will learn how to provide multi-component literacy intervention for middle and high school students. Instructional resources and tools derived from evidence-based practices will be shared and modeled. These can be used to supplement and/or bolster your existing reading intervention program.  

Each session has a distinct yet interconnected focus: 

• Dyslexia as a specific learning disability
• Reading multisyllabic words from authentic text 
• Spelling multisyllabic words 
• Text reading fluency in support of comprehension
• Reading comprehension: vocabulary and knowledge
• Written expression

 

This series is geared toward special educators in the middle and high school setting. Interventionists, administrators, school psychologists, speech language pathologists, and other educators who work with intensive reading intervention are encouraged to attend, as well!

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*Note: Each participant must complete a brief knowledge check after engaging with the online material. An hour of attendance will be certified for each online session, based on the engagement analytics provided by the LMS. You must attend the in-person session for each date in order to benefit from application of the information and to earn a certificate of attendance. 

 

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 Cost $299 for up to 25 hours attendance credit 

REGISTER

PAY

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Course Instructors

Melinda Hirschmann, Ed.D., CALT

Melinda.Hirschmann@mtsu.edu
Assistant Director for Educational Services and School Outreach

As Assistant Director for Educational Services and School Outreach at the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia, Melinda collaborates with schools to support professional learning regarding literacy instruction and intervention for educators and their students in grades K-12. She also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses as an adjunct professor for the College of Education at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned her Master of Education degree in Special Education from Tennessee State University and her Doctor of Education degree from Lipscomb University. She had the pleasure and challenge of working with adolescent students as a middle school special education reading interventionist for 10 years. Melinda is a Certified Academic Language Therapist and has tutored elementary children using intensive structured literacy instruction. She also administers and supervises student assessments for characteristics of dyslexia. Melinda serves on the board of the Tennessee branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

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Erin Alexander, Ed.S., NCSP, CALT

Erin.Alexander@mtsu.edu
Assistant Director for Clinical Services

Erin Alexander is the Assistant Director for Clinical Services at the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University. She trains and supervises graduate students who conduct assessments at the center, consults with parents and school personnel regarding how to best identify and support students with reading difficulties, provides workshops for parents, and delivers professional development to school personnel. She earned her B.S. in psychology, M.A. in school psychology, and Ed.S. in curriculum and instruction/school psychology from Middle Tennessee State University. She is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) and a licensed school psychologist through the TN Department of Education. Her previous experience includes serving on the board of the Tennessee branch of the International Dyslexia Association and working in the public schools in Tennessee as a school psychologist. Erin is also a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) who has provided intervention to students with characteristics of dyslexia. She is an ex-officio member of the Tennessee Dyslexia Advisory Council, which was established in 2016 to advise the Tennessee Department of Education on matters related to dyslexia.

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