Free NCLB Online Course Released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education

   A new Act 48 free on-line course, "Essential Building Blocks of K-3 Reading Instruction-An Introduction" is now available through the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) - funded professional education web site:
http://PA.ProfessionalEducation.org.

   The 15-hour course is designed to assist Pennsylvania school districts implement the federal No Child Left Behind - Reading First Initiative. Currently, 165 hours of free Act 48 online professional education programs are available to eligible educators through the Online Professional Education Network (OPEN) including subjects such as data-driven decision making, English language learners, mathematics, science, technology and more.

   The new course focuses on the essential building blocks of a comprehensive early literacy program. Scientifically based reading research shows that 95% of children entering our kindergarten classrooms can learn to read -- on time and on grade level -- given appropriate, scientifically based instruction during kindergarten, first and second grade. This introductory course will show how to achieve these results by focusing efforts on instructional practices based on solid scientific research. The course content team was led by Helen Conahan-Dettrey, director of the Institute for Teaching and Learning, and Dr. Corinne Eisenhart, early childhood education advisor for PDE. The course includes contributions by Dr. Reid Lyon, chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

   This new course is available free to all eligible Pennsylvania educators through OPEN. This newly released course joins a variety of other standards-based online courses, which can be accessed from school or the comfort of home while assuring fast, high performance over the Internet.

   The multimedia courses follow a practitioner-driven model ending with guided practice activities requiring the application of knowledge and skills in the learning environment. Libraries of links offer supplemental reading and research, and the online lesson plans and discussion groups provide opportunities to share information with fellow educators. Fifteen Act 48 professional education hours are awarded for each of the courses, with the hours automatically recorded and reported to PDE, and the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units. This partnership includes representation from practicing teachers, administrators, higher education, intermediate units, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, content experts and instructional design and multimedia professionals.

   For more information on "Essential Building Blocks of K-3 Reading Instruction -- An Introduction" and other free online courses or to register for a course, visit the web site:
http://PAProfessionalEducation.org.