Northwest Area Reads professional development opportunity is a 2 credit year long course. It incorporates concepts and best practices from the state reading initiative SD READS. It is offered to K-12 teachers.

 This course will engage teachers as learners – learning that includes demonstration, inquiry, reflection, and experimentation. The professional development includes specific, defined, clear instructional practices based upon scientific research. Teachers will receive explicit, engaging instruction in a 1 credit book study course as well as mentoring and coaching in the classroom in a 1 credit practicum course. The literacy coach will introduce, describe, and demonstrate instruction and then follow up with coaching in the classroom that may include modeling, team teaching or problem solving around practice. The focus of the classroom collaboration between literacy coaches and teachers is to assist teachers in refining their instructional practices through reflection and teacher self-evaluation.