Center Collaborations
here is much work to be done to ensure that all children in Alabama, and across the nation, develop as confident and capable readers and writers. The UA Belser-Parton Literacy Center will address this goal by supporting the expertise of faculty in conducting innovative research, linking theory and practice for enhanced teaching and learning, and connecting collaborating with the larger community literacy needs.
The Center will support innovative research about literacy learning and teaching. Support, in the form of funding, partnerships, and literacy expertise, will be given to individuals doing literacy work and seeking to develop collaborations within the College and University. The literacy directors also collaborate across the nation by developing collaborative partnerships for projects and external funding, creating opportunities for mentorship of junior faculty, and recruiting and mentoring doctoral students. Additionally, the Center may support faculty in other scholarly endeavors such as applying for editorships of research and practitioner journals, planning conferences, and instituting seminars on topics of interest to researchers, teachers, community literacy providers, and parents.
Another aspect of the Literacy Center work will focus on teacher development with several components. The Center will support research on pre-service teacher preparation and encourage discussions of quality programs. The literacy directors will also support preservice teacher education in field-based settings and include both undergraduate and graduate students in work with children at the Center. Experienced teachers will also benefit from the Center through the work in the school partnerships created to provide professional development and pre-service field-based teaching. Partnerships with the Inservice Center and local school districts may also provide opportunities for supporting the career teaching professional.
The community outreach component will include taking the Center into the community and inviting the community into the Center. A variety of projects will be initiated such that the expertise of the literacy faculty and other collaborative groups would be made available to interested parties. The Center will provide workshops for parents, paraprofessionals, volunteer tutors, early childhood care providers, and others. Providing answers to questions about literacy development and difficulties would be helpful to parents and can be done through a website as well as forums on topics of interest. After school reading/writing support (tutoring) and summer programs for literacy enrichment and support for struggling students will be important outreach activities.
History of the Center
The Center began with an estate bequest in 1972 to support the operations of a reading clinic within the College of Education. The reading clinic was established in memory of Miss Belser’s sister, Dr. Danylu Belser, and Dr. Daisy Parton, both of whom were members of the College’s Elementary Education faculty. The Center ran as a reading clinic for almost two decades, initially directed by Dr. F. L. Westover.
Preschool Partners
The Center and Preschool Partners are working together to plan a long term partnership to support teachers and children and to answer important questions about early literacy through the potential for innovative research.
Check out the fantastic program at Preschool-Partners already in place.
View our recent parent workshop presentation.
Check out the fantastic program at Preschool-Partners already in place.
View our recent parent workshop presentation.
Horseshoe Farms
The Center is working with Project Horseshoe Farm in Greensboro, Alabama. The Literacy Center recruits volunteers of undergraduate students at UA. These volunteers meet on campus once a week to video chat with students in grades 3-10 in Greensboro, Alabama. During this video chat, UA students are each assigned one child which they tutor in literacy skills and serve as a mentor. To find out more about Horseshoe Farms, visit projecthsf.org
Tuscaloosa City Schools PreK
The Center is working with Tuscaloosa City Schools to plan professional development for preschool teachers in the District. A series of workshops will cover topics such as early literacy development, shared reading, concepts about print, interactive writing, and integrating literacy through a print-rich environment.
UA/UWA In-service Center
The Center has partnered with the In-service Center to provide substitutes and materials for several projects. Check out their other work at the UA/UWA Regional In-service Education Center.
- Donovan & Coleman’s Research Directors project
- Northington Elementary School’s PLG: Study and Implementation of the 6 Traits of Writing: Writing Development and Instruction
Multiple Abilities Program
The Center has partnered with UA's Multiple Ability Program (MAP) and Holt Elementary School to provide tutoring for struggling readers. The focus is on comprehension of nonfiction and writing about reading to support comprehension, which provides support to HES students and invaluable teaching opportunities for MAP students as they learn to assess and teach reading and writing.
CrossingPoints Program at the Center
This partnership between Crossing Points Program (CPP), a transitional program for students with disabilities ages 18-21, and the Literacy Center provides opportunities for CPP students to select books from the library and do important work for the Center. Visit CrossingPoints website to learn more.
Reading Praxis Review Sessions
Throughout the year, the Center offers FREE reviews for the Reading Praxis Exams for students seeking initial teacher certification and required to take Praxis II Teaching Reading test 5204.
During the session we will cover the types of questions asked on the exam and practice answering some from the practice guide. Dr. Donovan will lead the review and answer questions that come up about content and format. This review covers what is available to you on the Praxis website. There is no guarantee that this review will increase your scores, but the benefit to some may be that a review in a group provides different questions than you might ask yourself and additional time preparing than you might otherwise have spent.
Follow us on social media to be the first to know when reviews are scheduled or check back here for future dates!
During the session we will cover the types of questions asked on the exam and practice answering some from the practice guide. Dr. Donovan will lead the review and answer questions that come up about content and format. This review covers what is available to you on the Praxis website. There is no guarantee that this review will increase your scores, but the benefit to some may be that a review in a group provides different questions than you might ask yourself and additional time preparing than you might otherwise have spent.
Follow us on social media to be the first to know when reviews are scheduled or check back here for future dates!
