master's (what area do you have your master's in?)

I am an SLP who really likes literacy. If I hadn’t decided to become an SLP I probably would have picked reading specialist instead because I am passionate about literacy. So what are you passionate about? :?

Why not both? Here in Georgia you can get your master’s in LD then get an add-on certificate in reading. The beauty of teaching in Georgia is that the state will pay 3/4th’s of your tuition if you get your master’s in sped. It doesn’t pay a dime for reading.

Laurie

My master’s is in LD. The unfortunate thing about most universities is that they do nto teach you what you need to know about reading! All that I have learned of value has come from private training in programs like Phono-Graphix and Lindamood-Bell. So unless you are just lucky to be near one of the few schools that has a decent reading program, I’d go for LD and take the reading workshops on the side.

Janis

Janis is dead on correct when she says that most reading classes in the LD programs have little to nothign to do with how you should really teach reading. One of my special ed reading classes spent hours teaching us something that was a fad at the time — I keep thinking “unisom” though I think it wasn’t that. :-) It was a special reading alphabet that was all regular. Interesting, but not imo real practical. Fortunately for me I did have a bit of background in OG though not enough to call myself trained. In was more than most special ed teachers ever have. NM has a program in academic reading specialist or somethign and they are teaching Alphabetic Phonics, unfortunately no one has ever responded on the phone or by email.

—des

My experience has been identical to the others who have posted. My masters is in LD, and everything I know about teaching reading I learned through research on the internet after my first year in the classroom, when I realized how inadequately trained I was. I agree with Janis that you should get the special ed degree and supplement it with training in Phonographix and Lindamood, unless, of course, you can find a university where they utilize research-based methodology in their reading specialist program. (It didn’t exist when I was in school almost 10 years ago!)

Is this like a poll? My Masters is in reading.