Northern Illinois University

NIU Family Health, Wellness and Literacy Center

Literacy Clinic Leadership

  • Laurie Elish-Piper, director
  • Norman Stahl, chair, Literacy Education
  • Lemuel Watson, dean, College of Education

Hours

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday

Referrals

Parents, teachers and clients may make referrals.

Fees

America Reads is provided free of charge. Diagnostic assessment: $60. Tutoring: $90. A sliding scale and scholarships are available so no client is denied services because of an inability to pay.

Contact Information

(815) 753-1416

Literacy Clinic Website

 

Literacy Clinic

Overview

NIU’s College of Education Literacy Clinic provides reading support services for K-12 students, high quality practicum experiences for candidates who are pursing graduate studies in reading, and continuing education and professional development opportunities for reading specialists. Established 40 years ago, the NIU Literacy Clinic supports courses leading to the reading teacher endorsement and the Type 10-K-12 Reading Specialist Certification through the Illinois State Board of Education. 


Services

Literacy Clinic

This individualized diagnostic reading program serves K-12 students. The program provides a thorough evaluation of reading, including present reading achievement, strengths, and areas for improvement. Additionally, instruction of useful reading strategies is provided. All program sessions are conducted by certified teachers who are completing a master’s degree in literacy education with specialization in reading at NIU. The program is offered on a rotating basis in DeKalb and at NIU’s outreach centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, and Rockford.  For more information, call (815) 753-8450.

America Reads

A collaboration between the Department of Literacy Education, Office of Student Financial Aid, and the DeKalb Public Schools, the program provides one-on-one tutoring for elementary students who struggle with reading. America Reads tutors receive 12 hours of training prior to beginning so they can provide high quality tutoring using a research-based session format.  Services are offered free-of-charge in school, after school, and during the summer. For more information, call (815) 753-3939.

Reading Specialist Workshops

The Literacy Clinic presents one-day workshops focusing on current topics or challenges facing reading specialists.  Each workshop features presenters sharing evidence-based strategies and approaches that reading specialists can immediately integrate into their individual school programs.  The workshops provide ongoing professional development for reading specialists and can be used to earn CPDUs through the Illinois State Board of Education.  For information on upcoming workshops, please contact the Literacy Clinic Receptionist at (815) 753-1416.

Future Offerings

As the Literacy Clinic looks to expand, activities currently under consideration for development include:

  • Reading Individualized Tutoring Services (RITS), a proposed year-round service using certified reading specialists who provide customized reading tutoring to meet the needs of K-12 students.
  • Collaborative arrangements with local literacy providers to use the clinic space and materials for adult literacy and ESL tutoring sessions.
  • Study skills workshops designed to support high school students struggling in school.

Reading support could help if your child...

  • Reading support could help if your child...
  • Does not know the sounds associated with all of the letters
  • Skips words in a sentence and does not stop to self-correct
  • Cannot remember words; sounds out the same word every time it occurs on the page
  • Frequently guesses at unknown words rather than sounding them out
  • Does not use various strategies to figure out unknown words
  • Reads at a very slow pace
  • When reading aloud, frequently hesitates, mispronounces words, reads them out of order or says the wrong words
  • Does not understand or remember what he or she has read
  • Has difficulty identifying the main idea and important details from what has been read
  • Has a limited vocabulary