Reading Specialist Job Description – Salary, Education and Career Guide for becoming a Reading Specialist

Reading specialists provide instruction and leadership in school reading programs. A reading specialist's career may center on remedial in-class reading instruction or on providing teachers with the skills and techniques needed to help struggling readers.
 
Reading skills are increasingly vital in today's technologically-centered world. At the same time, teachers struggle with increasingly diverse classes where students come from multiple cultural and economic backgrounds. Students who struggle with reading often "fall through the cracks" without help from reading specialists.

Job Description

The majority of reading specialists work in elementary school settings, but both middle school and high school reading programs benefit from a reading specialist's leadership. Reading specialists may also work with adults who never learned to read, or provide assistance to people for whom English is a second language.
 
Reading specialists often work directly with struggling readers who possess a wide variety of emotional, physical or learning disabilities. While addressing a child's reading needs reading specialists also communicate directly with the child's teacher, suggesting modifications to teaching methods that would help the child.
 
Reading specialists often meet and advise students' parents as well. Excellent communication skills are essential for reading specialist careers, as are tact and diplomacy.

Salaries for Reading Specialists

Salaries for reading specialists depend on years of experience and the nature of the work. After one to four years of experience salaries for reading specialists average $32,490 a year. Additional years of experience yield salaries that average $57,000 a year.
 
Salaries for reading specialists in administrative positions are generally higher than those of reading specialists careers that work directly with students. With continued emphasis on reading in U.S. education the growth of reading specialist careers is expected to increase in the future.

Education and Training

Reading specialists earn their certification through a postgraduate degree. Qualifications for acceptance usually include a bachelors degree in education coupled with several years of teaching experience.
 
Masters programs for reading specialists provide training in educational psychology with an emphasis on literacy. Teaching methods taught include:
  • expressive writing
  • fluency
  • reading comprehension
  • spelling
  • vocabulary development
  • word recognition.
Reading specialists teach students how to assess reading skills and identify obstacles to reading, including dyslexia. Students also learn a variety of scientifically-based intervention strategies to help struggling readers.
 
Clinical experience and practicums are essential parts of the reading specialist curriculum, providing students with opportunities to practice their new found skills.
 
Ongoing education is required for a reading specialist's career. Reading specialists attend workshops, seminars and conferences on remedial reading instruction and other areas of professional development. The skills reading specialists acquire though professional development are then passed on to other faculty members.

Prior Work Experience

Previous teaching experience is required for reading specialist jobs in part because it provides reading specialists with an understanding of the challenges teachers face when dealing with students of differing reading skills. On a more subtle level, teaching experience gives reading specialists credibility with teachers that might otherwise be lacking.

Career Advancement

Reading specialists can take administrative positions, overseeing a school's reading program, providing professional development to teachers, or advising community reading programs. Some reading specialists find employment in private schools or private tutoring services.

Related Associations and Groups

  • Academic Language Therapy Association
  • Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers
  • International Reading Association
  • Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse.

 

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