Watson Literacy Center

HOW CAN THE WATSON LITERACY CENTER HELP?

The Dorothy Harper Watson Literacy Center is here to help in the following ways:

We will help people find answers to questions and problems they face as they work to help children and young adults become highly literate individuals. This help may occur on an individual basis, within one classroom, among several teachers, or within entire schools. The help may take the form of consulting, assistance with classroom action research, finding and compiling needed information and other resources, and collaboration on outreach projects within schools and communities. Please contact us.
We will help people to investigate the processes involved when people read and write. From that better understanding should come the ability to make informed choices about strategies for reading and writing instruction, and about strategies for assessing literacy outcomes. We believe this kind of in-depth inquiry is important so that teachers become “grounded”, making choices based upon what they know about literacy and about readers and writers. Otherwise, there is a risk that choices will be made on other bases, such as convenience, “common sense”, and unquestioned information from a variety of sources.
We will help people to understand that because literacy is unavoidably and inherently political (as indeed is all education), it is especially important for teachers to be “grounded” in their understanding of the agendas, support systems, and power structures that underlie every single aspect of literacy instruction. This includes ways of teaching, ways of assessing, and the theoretical bases upon which literacy instruction and assessment are built. It does not always follow that instructional and assessment approaches that are mandated, are popular, or enjoy government and/or corporate support are the best approaches for all learners. Educators today must ask critical questions about everything to do with literacy, so that they can take strong stands to defend what they believe is best for the learners they work with. The Literacy Center can provide guidance and support in taking such a stand, and assistance in how to do so within the current context of district, state, and federal mandates.
We will try to help first where the needs are greatest. Although the Literacy Center and its resources are open to anyone who seeks help and information, the Center will make it a priority to seek out and help people who most need assistance with literacy, communities that are underserved, and groups that may not always have the most resources, or may not have the most powerful voices to ask for and obtain help with literacy issues. Outreach projects will focus on critical needs within and around the Kansas City metropolitan area. However, as the Center grows, we hope to reach beyond our immediate geographical area. Individuals from anywhere in the world who are interested in literacy are welcome to seek information and to join in discussions and collaborative inquiry through the Literacy Center, as well as to participate in professional development opportunities of the Center.

WHERE IS the literacy center?

The place, our “headquarters”, is located at Park University, in Parkville, Missouri.

The Watson Literacy Center is really a living entity made up of people who care about literacy, who care about young people, and who support teachers and others who want to help children discover the joys, and the power, that come with literacy.

The work of the Watson Literacy Center is organized around four strands. The first two are related to the Literacy Center as a place, and the second two are related to the Literacy Center as an entity, in its broader sense.

Strand #1 Facilities and Equipment

The Watson Literacy Center is in Park University’s Mabee Learning Center, which is located underground on the University’s Parkville, Missouri campus. The space includes a large, comfortable meeting area with movable furniture, including tables and up to 50 chairs, designed to provide a collaborative atmosphere for classes, meetings, small conferences, and workshops. The meeting space features a state-of-the art presentation platform. Directly behind the classroom/meeting area is an area where a collection of literacy resources and electronic equipment are housed. The Center is completely accessible for those with physical challenges.

Strand #2 Resources

A select collection of literacy and educational technology resources are housed in the Center. These include books for teachers and children, audiovisuals, software, diagnostic and instructional materials, and other kinds of materials. The Literacy Center will add selected new materials on an annual basis.

Strand #3 Professional Development/Scholarship

The Literacy Center will sponsor various professional development opportunities for teachers each year. These may include workshops, guest speakers, study groups, and support groups. Many of these events will be held in the facility, but some may also be held at other sites such as schools or community centers.

Strand #4 Outreach

Outreach projects will be designed to meet specific needs of students and teachers who are in all kinds of educational settings within the Kansas City area and the surrounding region. The Center will work with those who teach children of all ages, from birth through high school. The Center’s Advisory Board, made up of educators and community leaders from various sectors of the community, will assist in the planning and prioritizing of projects.

DOES THE WATSON LITERACY CENTER HAVE A PARTICULAR THEORETICAL ORIENTATION?

Dorothy Watson’s life work has been centered within the whole language world view; she is, in fact, still active as a whole language advocate. She is co-author of several books on literacy, and is a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences. Because she wished to give back proceeds from her life of service to the literacy field, the Watson Literacy Center is possible. Therefore, it is natural that a Literacy Center bearing her name is grounded upon the whole language world view.

In view of its grounding within the whole language framework, the Literacy Center is most interested in the following kinds of literacy instruction and assessment strategies:

Those that focus upon the strengths of the child and what he/she can do, rather than those that take a “deficit” approach and focus upon what a child cannot do.
Those that center upon the child and her/his needs rather than upon externally imposed curricula or standards. We realize that mandated curricula are a part of life, but these should be critically evaluated and seen not as ends but only as one means for working with children. We are interested in how we can still remain child-centered within the context of (and often this means in spite of) pressure to conform to state and federal mandates that take the focus off the child.
Those that are meaning-based, recognizing that the primary objective of reading, writing, and all literacy activities is to construct and communicate meaning.
Those that stress “authentic”, holistic literacy–that is, activities that help children learn to do real reading, writing, and meaning-making, as it relates to their world and the world they will live in as adults. We consider it key to build literacy instruction around learners’ real-world experiences, interests, strengths, and needs.

Strategies that assess children’s literacy needs should be designed along the above four guidelines as well, with assessment always aligned closely with the instructional approach. Thus, if instruction focuses on children’s strengths, is child-centered, is meaning-based, and is authentic, so also should be the ways that we assess the outcomes of that instruction.

Big Book Collection (PDF)

Classroom Sets (PDF)

HISTORY OF THE DOROTHY HARPER WATSON LITERACY CENTER

In 2001, Dr. Dorothy Watson and Dr. Kathy Lofflin met at Park University. Dr. Watson, a Distinguished Alumna of Park University, received her bachelor’s degree in 1952 from what was then Park College. Dr. Lofflin, an Associate Professor at Park, had been on the full-time education faculty since 1988.

Dr. Watson and Dr. Lofflin met, and they talked about their shared views on and love for literacy. They discovered that they shared a similar theoretical orientation to literacy, the whole language perspective developed by Dr. Watson’s mentors, Ken and Yetta Goodman.

Out of that conversation, the Dorothy Harper Watson Literacy Center was born. Dr. Watson, who had recently retired from a long career at the University of Missouri in Columbia, told Dr. Lofflin that she wanted to “do something for literacy at Park.”

At first, the talk centered mainly around providing a new classroom/meeting facility that would be a comfortable place for teaching the University’s literacy courses using a collaborative model rather than in small, lecture-style classrooms as had been the necessity in the past. The Literacy Center became more than just a place to teach; it became a living entity with four strands:

Facilities/Equipment
Resources
Professional Development/Scholarship
Outreach

Although the teaching/meeting facility is still an important component as the Center’s “headquarters,” the Center really transcends the place, and became more about the people who are increasingly involved in the Center, and the learning and work they are doing and will do.

The Literacy Center facility opened officially in 2003.

ADVOCACY GROUPS AND INFORMATION CENTERS

Child Trends
Provides an overview of this advocacy group that is devoted to protecting children. Includes articles and research findings on child welfare topics, such as child abuse and neglect and child poverty.

Child Welfare League of America
Information on the oldest child advocacy organization in the United States. Includes descriptions of advocacy activities of the CWL, which is devoted to promoting policies that protect children and strengthen families.

Children Now
Information on an organization that advocates for the well-being of children and families. Includes articles, data summaries, and research on such topics as the media, violence in children’s lives, children’s health issues, and child care.

Children’s Defense Fund
One of the leading child advocacy groups in the country. Information on key issues and problems facing children and families in the United States.

Common Sense
Dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. Provide unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.

Education Commission of the States
Organization devoted to disseminating research and theory that can guide educational practice. Educational issues, including those affecting young children and their families.

Families USA
Organization that advocates for child and family health. Summaries of pending legislation, position statements, and other resources related to health issues.

Kids Count
National organization that tracks the status of children in the United States and shares this information with policymakers, educators, and families. Profiles the well-being of children both nationally and state-by-state.

National Safe Kids Campaign
Organization devoted exclusively to protecting children from their number one killer: unintentional accidents. Research reports, safety tips, and statistics on childhood accidents.

Stand for Children
Issues related to children’s health and education. Policy statements on national issues, including early childhood education and health care.

United Nations Children’s Fund
Press releases, articles, and overviews of initiatives related to early care and education, gender equity, child health and mortality, and childhood survival during war and natural disasters.

ASSESSMENT

Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute—birth through age 12

Desired Results for Children and Families—birth through age 12

These digital formative assessment tools were all highly rated by teachers on Graphite. Learn how you can use these apps and websites to target students’ learning needs.

BLOGS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Lee and Low Books (multicultural and diverse literature)

Literacy Daily (International Literacy Association

Two Writing Teachers

A Year of Reading

NEWSLETTERS/NEWS BRIEFS

Choice Literacy: what’s new in literacy education

The National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE)

National Education Association

ASCD
ASCD is a global community dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching, and leading. ASCD’s innovative solutions promote the success of each child.

Association for Childhood Education International

Council for Exceptional Children
Organization dedicated to improving the education of individuals with special needs. Click on the “Divisions” link for information on the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), devoted to supporting young children with special needs and their families.

National Association for the Education of Young Children

SPECIAL EDUCATION WEBSITES

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
Advocates for individuals who are gifted and for those with disabilities.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

Smart Brief on Special Education
SmartBrief is a leading digital B2B media company. By combining technology and editorial expertise, SmartBrief delivers each day’s most relevant industry news to more than 5.8 million senior executives, thought leaders and informed industry professionals.

Special Education Resources for General Educators (SERGE)
Designed to put practicing general educators in touch with professional development resources and to answer educators’ questions about classroom practices relating to students with disabilities.

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP)

American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION WEBSITES

eMINTS

Free Technology for Teachers

Education World

Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center

Office of Technology Education

International Society for Technology Education (ISTE)

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THE DOROTHY HARPER WATSON LITERACY CENTER

TYPESCRIPTS

ABOUT DR. WATSON

GUIDING PRINCIPLES