The Reading Clinic at EOU

EOU Reading Clinic offers affordable teacher training aligned to HB 3198

The Early Literacy Success Initiative (created by House Bill 3198) provides grants to schools across Oregon that will provide funding for professional development and coaching in evidence-aligned literacy strategies. Eastern Oregon University Reading Clinic, in partnership with the Schuberth/Urang Family, is thrilled to offer online teacher training, Building a Strong Foundation in Literacy, aligned to reading science, that is affordable and accessible for any teacher, school, or district in Oregon beginning in January 2024.

Learn more about the Early Literacy Success Initiative

EOU Reading Clinic’s goal is to improve reading outcomes for ALL of the students of the eastern Oregon region.

This mission is accomplished by:

Providing practical training and experience for the region’s practicing and pre-service general and special education teachers, as well as aspiring reading specialists.
Providing research-based structured literacy instruction to children who struggle to meet reading benchmarks.

Teachers are trained in structured literacy, and children receive intervention twice per week, either through online or face-to-face instruction (depending on the location of the teacher providing intervention and the student) for approximately 10 weeks per session.

Structured literacy explicitly, systematically, and diagnostically teaches:

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
Sound-symbol association
Pattern & conventions of print (orthography)
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics

Moats, L. C. (2019). Structured Literacy: Effective instruction for students with dyslexia and related reading difficulties. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 45(2), 9-11.

Families

To have your child considered for service in the EOURC, parents or guardians must:

Obtain a teacher referral (see form link below)
Obtain data from teachers/schools state-approved dyslexia screener for kindergarten & 1st grade students (DIBELS, Acadience, easyCBM, etc.)
Give permission for your child to receive services through the EOU Reading Clinic
Give permission for your child’s progress monitoring data to be used for educational and research purposes
Families must commit to two after-school or in-school (depending on tutor availability) one-hour sessions per week or equivalent. (Virtual or in-person depending on location).
Services are be provided free of charge, however, donations to the clinic are gladly accepted to cover the cost of administration of clinic services.

Teacher Referral Form

Teachers

Inservice teachers who wish to receive training in the clinic:

Apply to be in the training program! Please email rfritz@eou.edu if you have questions and use the link below to apply.
Accepted teachers agree to commit to 4-6 clinical hours each week (hours vary for summer session)
- Two hours one-on-one with a student in need of intervention
- 1 ½ hours in a graduate level course
- Up to 2 hours lesson planning and collaborating with a mentor
NOTE that summer sessions are be intensive 3-week sessions rather than the typical 10-week training session.

Teacher Training Application

Mentors

Who serve as mentors within the EOURC and what are their responsibilities?

Current or former teachers or reading specialists who have been trained in structured literacy methods
- In the future, teachers who have been trained through the clinic could become mentors.
Mentors collaborate with clinic staff and the training teacher to ensure quality instruction is delivered.
- Conduct 10 in-person meetings with training teachers (1 meet/greet, 3 collaborations during coursework, 2 in-person observations (if possible), 1-3 videotaped observations, and any other necessary meetings)

Tutoring Clinic

Mentor helping a student at the EOU Reading Clinic

In 2023, we began providing free tutoring services to children who are striving readers. This half of the EOURC’s mission involves providing direct services to children in need of support in developing literacy skills. Trained university student tutors provide one-on-one or small group instruction tailored to the needs and skills of each student three or more days each week. To reduce barriers, tutors provide these services at no cost to families and in various settings and times. Some provide services at school during the school day or during after-school programs, and others provide services remotely using technology. The methods used are designed to accelerate learning to get students reading proficiently as quickly as possible.

Learn more about the Tutoring Clinic

Donate to the EOU Reading Clinic

Interested in partnering with EOU Reading Clinic as a donor?

Donors can provide resources for EOU Reading Clinic to continue providing training for teachers and intervention for young children of Eastern Oregon. Become a donor and make a difference for children in Eastern Oregon TODAY!

Donations can be made by credit or debit card by visiting eou.edu/foundation. Be sure to choose “other” under Designation, and write Reading Clinic in the comments.

If you wish to send a check payable to EOU Foundation with Reading Clinic in the Memo field to:

University Advancement
One University Blvd.
Inlow Hall, Suite 212
La Grande, OR 97850

Donate now!

For questions regarding donations, please contact University Advancement at 541-962-3740. For questions specific to the EOU Reading Clinic, please call Dr. Ronda Fritz at 541-962-3380, or email at rfritz@eou.edu.

Our current sponsors:

Dr. Jennifer Schuberth and Dr. John Urang

The Meyer Memorial Trust
Oregon Trail Regional Educator Network

La Grande Walmart

83% of children in eastern Oregon are living in poverty (ODE State Report Card, 2019). Children living in poverty are more likely to have low reading ability (nationwide, only 17% of low-income children are proficient readers).
Solari, E. J., Denton, C. A., & Haring, C. (2017). How to reach first-grade struggling readers: An integrated instructional approach. Teaching Exceptional Children, 49(3), 149-159.

Clinic Staff

Dr. Ronda Fritz

Clinic Director

Dr. Fritz is an Associate Professor of Education at Eastern Oregon University, specializing in early literacy instruction and elementary education. Prior to coming to EOU, Ronda was a K-12 teacher for 19 years. She taught kindergarten, Title I Reading, middle school Language Arts, 4th and 5th grade, and ended her K-12 teaching career as a Reading specialist, where she discovered a passion for developing systems and interventions for improving outcomes for struggling readers. This passion led her to University of Oregon’s Special Education department where she received her Ph.D. in 2016. Her research interests include prevention and intervention of reading difficulties, teacher preparation, and the link between behavior and academic outcomes.

Email: rfritz@eou.edu
Office: ZH 229
Phone: 541 962-3380

Jessica Hagedorn

Director of Tutor Services

A former elementary school teacher in McMinnville School District, Jessica served as the Director of the Tutoring Clinic in our first year of operation. She holds a Master of Education from Oregon State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Linfield College. In addition to serving as director of the tutoring portion of EOURC, she also works as a faculty member for EOU’s College of Education, teaching literacy and curriculum, instruction, and assessment courses to our undergraduate and graduate students. She has been with EOU since 2021.

Email: hagedoj@eou.edu
Office: ZH 229
Phone: 541 962-3446