The IMSLEC Record Volume IX, Number 2 Fall 2006 September 15, 2006 ~ A Day of First’s It was a sunny day in Texas And all through the school THE PURPOSE OF IMSLEC is to The nerves were a-jitter accredit training courses for the professional The finger nails a-chew preparation of the Multisensory Structured Language Education specialist. IMSLEC The candidates were sitting all quiet in their chairs is committed to quality training of the In hopes that their knowledge would all be there. MSLE clinicians and teachers, establishing standards and criteria of excellence for the This was the scene at the Shelton School and Evaluation Center, home programs it accredits. of the Shelton MSL Training Course in Dallas, Texas on September 15, There are currently 31 accredited training 2006. This was an important and historic day for many reasons. It was courses with 81 locations throughout the the: United States. A full description of the Ac- creditation Process and an Application can First time a training course that was not previously accredited by the be found on the IMSLEC website, www. former ALTA Centers Council offered the official Alliance Nation- imslec.org. al Registration Exam; First time that the Teaching Level of the Alliance National Registration Exam was administered; 2005 - 2006 Board of Directors First time that both the Teaching and Therapy Level of the Alliance Kay Allen, M.Ed., CALT National Registration Exam were offered at the same time; and the Karen Avrit, M.Ed., CALT First time that individuals from a variety of training courses sat for Mary Farrell, Ph.D. the exam at the same time. (There were representatives from the Marcia Henry, Ph.D. DuBard School, from the Shelton SEE training, and several from Maureen Martin, Ph.D. courses that derive from Alphabetic Phonics.) Phyllis B. Meisel After working for two years on the exam , September 15th was a Michael Minsky milestone day for IMSLEC, ALTA and for the Alliance. This testing Claire D. Nissenbaum, M.A. opportunity was collaboration Mary E. North, Ph.D. in action and the product of Joyce S. Pickering, Hum.D. many hours of hard work Sylvia Richardson, M.D. for the registration exam Marjory Roth, M.Ed. Valerie G. Tucker, M.Ed., CALT committee members. Karen S. Vickery, Ed.D. Nancy Cushen White, Ed.D. Nancy Coffman, M.Ed., CALT Fall 2006 Page A Message from the President ~ IMSLEC will be well represented at the IDA Con- ference in Indianapolis. Representatives from IMSLEC Dear Friends, accredited courses will present in 20+ sessions. The I am excited to report that IMSLEC is growing. IMSLEC presentation will be included in the Alli- We are growing not only in numbers, currently 86 sites ance session-F61-on Friday, November 10 from 10:45 including satellite sites, but also in recognition in the – 12:15. The session title is The Alliance for Accredita- field of multisensory structured language education. Our tion and Certification of Structured Language Educa- reputation for high standards in accreditation has re- tion, Inc.: Consistency of Standards Within a Variety sulted in many new applications from a variety of courses of Programs. I hope to see many of you at this session. throughout the continental US and beyond. Please also visit the Alliance booth at the con- Hours of cooperative work between profession- ference. ALTA, IMSLEC, and The Alliance will all be als in a variety of training situations have resulted in together and we will have a variety of handouts as well as standards that have been refined and updated over the CEU forms available at the booth. Copies of the IMSLEC past 10 years. These standards have always reflected the newsletter will be available both at the booth and in each basic belief that high standards are attainable at several conference attendee’s bag. levels and must be realistic for the populations served by IMSLEC remains an enthusiastic supporter of the our accredited courses. Countless teachers, therapists, Alliance. We feel that it is essential for the public to un- and students have benefited from the excellent training derstand the importance of high standards in accreditation and services offered by the IMSLEC courses and their and certification. The Alliance organization brings these graduates. standards together for the benefit of individuals seeking highly qualified professionals in the field of teacher IMSLEC Board Meeting Agenda training and direct services to children and adults with Tuesday, November 7, 2006 dyslexia and related disorders. 6:30 p.m. Light Buffet Supper All of our committees have been working to ensure 7:00 Call to Order/Introductions Valerie Tucker Announcements that the organization runs smoothly. Rumor has it Approval of Agenda that Member Services has planned some surprises for Verification of Quorum our Board and Council meetings in November. Our Approval of Minutes progress would not be possible without the help and 7:10 President’s Report Valerie Tucker 7:15 Treasurer’s Report Kay Allen support of all of you. Special thanks to Marty Cooley • Dues increase proposal who keeps us in line and is invaluable to the smooth 7:40 Committee Reports operation of this organization. Accreditation Karen Avrit • Vote on new programs The IMSLEC Board will meet at 7:00 pm on Bylaws Kay Allen Tuesday, November 7 in Indianapolis. The Council Colleges/Universities Karen Vickery will meet on Wednesday, November 8 from 1-5. Research Shary Maskel Ethics Phyllis Meisel This is a change from our Saturday meeting date as Development Joyce Pickering so many members of our Council present sessions on Member Services Laurie Wagner Saturday. Publications Jean Neville/ Nominating Karen Vickery Thank you all for all that you do for IMSLEC. See Report from ALTA Nancy Coffman you in Indianapolis! Report from IDA Nancy C. White Report from Alliance Valerie Tucker Sincerely, 8:30 Break Valerie Tucker 8:45 Unfinished Business New Business November 7, 2006 9:00 Recess of Board Meeting A non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation established in 1995 Page The IMSLEC Record Word Finding Difficulties & Reading: SLANT System®’s Summer Course During July, teachers certified in the SLANT System® for ing and spelling activities that will allow students with Structured Language Training participated in a two-day word finding difficulties to demonstrate their knowl- course titled Word Finding Difficulties and Their Rela- edge while not taxing their retrieval. ® tionship to Reading. Each summer, SLANT offers an Participants learned ways to redesign their SLANT® les- advanced training course for its certified teachers. sons incorporating word-finding friendly strategies such as multiple choice, pointing, the use of decoys, and the This summer’s class generated a good deal of interest. importance of silent reading (WFIP-2, German, 2005). Approximately 30 teachers returned to the SLANT® class- There was also a lively discussion regarding the appro- room to learn about Child Word Finding Difficulties and priateness of fluency activities for students with word how they impact a student’s ability to read accurately and finding difficulties. Participants ended the class dis- fluently. cussing ways to incorporate their new knowledge into Marsha Geller, SLANT®’s author, developed the course their daily work and promising to share this important after collaborating with Child Word Finding expert Diane information with their colleagues. German, Ph.D. Dr. German’s model of child word find- Next summer’s advanced class will be presented by a ing provided the theoretical base for the class. Class par- speech and language pathologist and cover the relation- ticipants discussed not only the word finding difficulties ship of speech and language development to reading, of their students, but shared their own experiences with spelling, and writing. faulty retrieval. After the theory, the majority of class Marsha Geller is the Director of SLANT System® for Structured time was devoted to rethinking ways to present read- Language Training in Buffalo Grove, IL. For more information about their training, contact Ms. Geller at gellereducational@yahoo. com. Associate/Teacher Level Added to ALTA Membership Individuals who successfully completed the exam on September 15 are now eligible to become members of ALTA. As a result, ALTA has added to its memberships: 4 new Qualified Instructors, 20 new Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALT’s), and 24 new Associate/Academic Language Teacher level members. These Associate/Academic Language Teacher level members are the first members at that level in the history of ALTA! As ALTA members these individuals broaden the breath of experience in ALTA and expand the membership. As these individuals make an impact in their community, others will want the training that they have received and in turn strengthen IMSLEC. What a wonderful “vicious cycle” to promote! The ALTA board is very appreciative of the support that the Shelton MSL train- ing Course has offered by hosting the Alliance National Registration Exam. We encourage all IMSLEC courses to host the exam for their graduates. Contact ALTA President Nancy Coffman or the national office (972-233-9107, ext 201) for more information on how to set up a testing opportunity. Penny Bigbie, CALT, (center) con- gratulates new ALTA members Mary Gilbert and Wilna Durham. The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council Fall 2006 Page Popular MSLE Video Series Now on DVD LD-LA, Learning disAbilities, Learning Abilities, is ways, with students from a range of communities and a popular researched based six tape video series to schools, how children can make the difficult leap from help improve the teaching of all students at risk of not speaking to reading, writing and spelling when good learning to read or do math. explicit, multisensory, systematic teaching, based on lan- guage structure happens. Professionals reviewing these The series, now in its ninth year of circulation, has got- tapes have made the point that all classroom teachers ten a phenom- enal response from thousands should understand and engage in this kind of teaching.