SLANT® Certification
After completion of the Introductory Course, one begins the Teaching Level Certification Course. This in-depth training provides participants with a one-on-one supervised practicum experience using the SLANT System® materials and teaching techniques. Participants also attend seminar classes over the course of the school year, totaling 24 additional hours of class time. The practicum experience emphasizes the individualization of reading instruction for a small group of students. Each participant uses the SLANT System® materials, and plans and implements, at a minimum, 60 lessons for the students over the course of 9 months (one school year), to total a minimum of 60 hours. Teachers may adapt the implementation to meet their classroom time needs as long as they meet the minimum requirement of 30 minute sessions 4 times per week.
Each participant is assigned a SLANT® Coach that visits during the participant’s SLANT® teaching time (visits may be live online) 5 times during the school year. The Coach assists the participant in administering and interpreting initial assessment results, in implementing the program using appropriate techniques and helps the participant to adapt the program to the specific needs of his / her group of students. The seminars provide opportunities to expand the participant’s skills in SLANT® techniques, language structure, and knowledge about dyslexia; as well as providing a forum for discussion. The seminars cover additional topics such as advanced phonemic awareness, orthographic mapping, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, morphology, and writing. Participants must pass several short assessments as well as a certifying exam.
During their course of study, teachers learn how to assess students for risk factors of dyslexia including assessment in the areas of phonological and phonemic awareness, rapid naming skills, alphabet knowledge, phonics, decoding skills, and encoding skills. Each teacher must assess at least two students and interpret the assessment results to determine if the student is appropriate for SLANT® instruction. The assessment is then used as a guide to instructional planning. During the training year, teachers learn how to use student data to keep track of progress, as well as using the SLANT® Phonics Survey to monitor growth within the program.
Teaching Level Certification is valid for 3 years after successful completion of all above requirements. Renewing this Certification requires 30 CPDU’s in specific areas of study.
Graduate credit hours are offered as an option, for an additional cost, for both the SLANT System Introductory Course (2 credit hours) as well as the Practicum Seminars (4 credit hours). If a participant opts to receive the graduate credit, they will receive a transcript from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Illinois CPDUs are provided to all participants in the introductory and practicum at no additional cost.
We're Approved! SLANT® is approved by the
Indiana Department of Education as a dyslexia training program .
Indiana Department of Education as a dyslexia training program .