Core Learning’s Elementary Online Language and Literacy Academy for SPS Kindergarten and First Grade

About the Program

Springfield Public Schools' Literacy Department is offering professional learning for up to 35 licensed kindergarten and first-grade educators through Core Learning's Elementary Online Language and Literacy Academy (OL&LA). This comprehensive, International Dyslexia Accredited course is grounded in the understanding that spoken language is the foundation of literacy, helping educators connect language and literacy to deliver evidence-based instruction for all students, including Multilingual Learners, English variety speakers, and students with dyslexia.

Participants will engage in self-directed online modules and supportive in-person sessions covering the following topics:

• Welcome Overview
• Spoken Language, Reading, and Word Structure
• Effective Instruction: Language and Early Literacy
• Phonics, Decoding, and Irregular Words
• Multisyllabic Words, Spelling, and Fluency
• Vocabulary: Spoken and Written Language
• Syntax: The Structure of Language and Writing
• Comprehension: Language and Reading
• Assessing Reading

Lorilee Cabrera, the District Instructional Leadership Specialist, and Laura Mendes, the Director of Literacy, will lead the learning through asynchronous and in-person live sessions, customized and aligned to the district's current instruction and curricular resources.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the five essential components of evidence-based reading instruction.
• Identify best practices and explicit methods to develop phonemic awareness, phonics, irregular and multisyllabic word knowledge, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and literary and informational text knowledge.
• Understand the factors that contribute to and affect reading comprehension, including the influence of oral language development.
• Identify and use techniques to support oral and academic language development for linguistically diverse students, including Multilingual Learners, English variety speakers, and students with dyslexia.
• Explore the structure of English and other language systems, including Spanish.
• Understand the definition of dyslexia, common warning signs by grade level, and evidence-based instructional practices and accommodations to meet the educational needs of students with dyslexia.
• Learn how to use multiple measures for assessing phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as a basis for instructional decisions.

Materials and Compensation

• Year-long access to online course materials.
• Copies of The Teaching Reading Sourcebook and Assessing Multiple Measures.
• A stipend of $1,925.00 for completing the coursework outside of work hours.
• Information for purchasing college credits will be provided during the informational session and the first in-person session.

Schedule

The course runs from October 8, 2026, to May 7, 2027, with sessions held on the following Thursdays from 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM:

• Session 1: October 8, 2026 – In person (location TBD)
• Session 2: November 19, 2026 – Zoom
• Optional Check-In: January 21, 2027 – Zoom (Not required)
• Session 3: February 11, 2027 – In person (location TBD)
• Session 4: March 18, 2027 – Zoom
• Session 5: April 29, 2027 – In person (location TBD)

An optional informational session will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2026, from 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM on Zoom.

Requirements

• Participants must be licensed kindergarten or first-grade educators.
• Agree to attend all sessions (in-person and virtually) and successfully complete all modules.
• If more than 35 qualified applicants apply, preference will be given to those with professional licensure and those with more than 5 years of service.