Bucks IU Provides Advanced Reading and Spelling Intervention

Posted onAuthorRobyn Gross

Not all stu­dent respond well, or the same to every type of inter­ven­tion ser­vice.  Therefore, in response to the grow­ing need for inten­sive, researched based read­ing and spelling inter­ven­tion, the Bucks IU’s Special Education Department in part­ner­ship with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) ser­vices worked togeth­er to begin offer­ing direct, 1:1 or small group instruc­tion to stu­dents by a cer­ti­fied Wilson Dyslexia Practitioner (WDP).  This ser­vice, which will begin this fall, will be open to stu­dents from our 13 school dis­tricts and three char­ter schools with­in Bucks County.

The WDP will pre­pare lessons, assess stu­dent progress, mon­i­tor this progress, and par­tic­i­pate as a mem­ber of the IEP team. All of the WDP’s work will be in-line with the Wilson Reading System (WRS).

  • To become a WDP, a can­di­date must go through a rig­or­ous year-long process.  This process requires that the can­di­date must:
  • Complete a 3‑day intro­duc­to­ry course that pro­vides an overview of the WRS (this is a pre-requisite for receiv­ing the rig­or­ous WRS Level I cer­ti­fi­ca­tion need­ed to become a WDP)
  • Finish a com­pre­hen­sive on-line 90 hour course in WRS inten­sive instruction
  • Conduct 1:1 WRS instruc­tion with a practicum stu­dent for 60 lessons under the direc­tion of a Wilson Trainer
  • Generate 60 les­son plans for each required lesson
  • Schedule and con­duct five 1‑hour lessons while being observed by a Wilson Trainer
  • Submit a report on their practicum stu­dent at the begin­ning of the practicum experience
  • Demonstrate mas­tery of the WRS Lesson Plan pro­ce­dures as approved by their Wilson Trainer
  • Prove their under­stand­ing of lan­guage con­cepts through their teach­ing procedures
  • Show that their practicum stu­dent has made progress in decod­ing and encod­ing skills
  • Conduct pre and post test­ing of their practicum stu­dent and share this infor­ma­tion with their Wilson Trainer

By pro­vid­ing this ser­vice, the Bucks IU will con­tin­ue to be respon­sive to the needs of the Bucks County stu­dents; in this case, stu­dents who have not respond­ed to oth­er reading
interventions.