Online Courses for Teachers

Big Five of Reading Award of Completion

The Professional Development Institute, in association with the prestigious University of California San Diego Division of Extended Studies (UCSD), has established a Big Five of Reading Competency Program for teachers of grades K-12. Teachers understand that reading is the gatekeeper to all subjects. It is imperative that students develop strong phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency skills in order to be successful in school and beyond. Through PDI's Big 5 of Reading Competency Program, if you complete any four reading courses listed below, you will receive a Big Five of Reading Competency Award of Completion from UCSD. Upon PDI's verification of satisfactory completion of the requirements, UCSD will mail a certificate to you suitable for framing and displaying in your classroom, or it can be used as evidence of excellence as part of your professional portfolio.

Review the details below to find out how to get started in this exciting program.

To obtain the PDI/UCSD Big Five of Reading Award of Completion, simply follow the steps below.

• Complete four of the following courses. Each flex course including credit fees is only $329 with the discount (regularly $379)! Note that you do not need to register for all courses at one time. You have up to five years to complete the requirements.
• Register for the courses with university credit. Simply select the option that says "course plus credit" when you register for your courses in the shopping cart area. You must receive university credit for every course you wish to use toward the requirements of the Big Five of Reading Competency Award of Completion. Note that you are required to pay for university credit within 48 hours of your course registration.
• Applying The Science of Reading Principles in the Content Areas (6-12)
• Boosting Comprehension for Struggling Readers using Science of Reading (3-6)
• Comprehension: The Key to Successful Reading (K-3)
• Comprehension Strategies for Middle and Upper Grades (4-12)
• Connecting Content with Literacy: Dynamic Strategies for Comprehension (6-12)
• The Daily 5 (K-3)
• Developing Phonemic Awareness in Emergent Readers (PreK-2)
• Enhancing Comprehension in Grades 2-5 with Science of Reading (2-5)
• Focus on Phonics (K-3)
• Mastering the Text Complexity Challenge in Grades 4-8 (4-8)
• Reading Fluency: The Bridge Between Phonics and Comprehension (K-5)
• Reading Foundations for Emergent and Early Readers (PreK-2)
• Reading to Learn: Developing Strategic Reading Skills (4-12)
• The Science of Reading (K-5)
• Strengthening Content Comprehension with Science of Reading Principles (6-12)
• Vocabulary-Building Strategies for Students in Grades (4-12)
• Word Play: Vocabulary Instruction in the Primary Grades (K-3)
• You may have already completed one or more of the required courses! If you are not certain if you have completed any of the required courses, you may e-mail PDI Registar, Shannon Philips, for verification. Please note that only courses previously completed with university credit can be applied toward the Award of Completion. You must complete all courses within a five-year period.
• Work on completing the courses you selected. Once you have received your final grade from PDI for all four courses, you may move on to the final PDI audit. Note that credit is only granted upon successful completion of all course requirements including the three-week minimum time requirement per course.**
• Request a PDI audit of course requirements for the Big Five of Reading Award of Completion. PDI must audit and officially verify that you have met all course requirements and timelines before UCSD will issue your Award of Completion. There is a $25 audit fee, so be certain that you have received your final grades in all required courses prior to requesting the PDI audit.
• Once PDI has audited your student record and verified completion of all course requirements and timelines, you will receive an e-mail notification that PDI has submitted your paperwork to UCSD. Within 10 days, UCSD will issue and mail your official Big Five of Reading Competency Award of Completion.

If you have questions about this program, please contact the PDI Program Coordinator, Kimya Nabavi, at kimya@webteaching.com.

** UCSD and PDI require that you spend a minimum of three weeks in EACH of your online courses. In other words, if you register for two online courses, you will be expected to spend three weeks in each course for a total of six weeks. The timeline begins from the day you register and runs consecutively, not concurrently, when taking multiple courses. Completion paperwork will not be processed until the minimum timeline requirement has been met. Both PDI and UCSD are intent on ensuring that the participant is able to maximize the knowledge gained by meaningful involvement in the program.