Certified Academic Language Therapist CALT

Course Hours: 216 classroom hours, 700 practicum hours.  Communities of practice 10 meetings in the summer, 10 meetings during schoolyear

Course Description:

Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALTs) complete a two-year training and certification course for individuals looking for a comprehensive Tier III intervention for students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties. This certification uses the Structured Multisensory Language Foundations (SMLF) program developed by Payne Education Center’s staff of Qualified Instructors in Oklahoma. SMLF relies on Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia (Take Flight) program developed by staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. SMLF addresses the five components of effective reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel and meets the International Dyslexia Association’s (IDA) Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers.

This program meets the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) training requirements for membership as a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT). ALTA verifies trainees have achieved expertise providing diagnostic, explicit, systematic Multisensory Structured Language intervention which builds a high degree of accuracy, knowledge, and independence for students with written language disorders, including dyslexia. SMLF trainees may receive graduate-level credit toward a Master’s degree at participating institutions.

Delivery: Hybrid, In-Person

Competencies: IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading

IDA Standards Met

Standard 1 Foundations of Literacy Acquisition

1.1 Understand the (5) language processing requirements of proficient reading and writing: phonological, orthographic, semantic, syntactic, discourse. Evidence: CALT 1H, I.L, 1M, 1.N, 2A.1, 5J

1.4.  Identify and explain aspects of cognition and behavior that affect reading and writing development. Evidence: CALT 1J,1N, 3C, 3D, 3E, 5H

1.8. Know phases in the typical developmental progression of oral language, phoneme awareness, decoding skills, printed word recognition, spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and written expression. Evidence CALT 1J,1N, 3C, 3D, 3E, 5H

Standards B Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

4B1 Understand rationale for/identify, pronounce, classify, and compare all the consonant phonemes and all the vowel phonemes of English. Evidence CALT 1.B, 1J, 1K, 1L, 1M, 2.A, 2A7,

4B3 Understand/apply in practice considerations for phonemic-awareness difficulties Evidence CALT: 1F,1J, 1L, 1M, 2A7,

Standard C   Phonics and Word Recognition

4C1 Know/apply in practice considerations for the structure of English orthography and the patterns and rules that inform the teaching of single- and multisyllabic regular word reading.    Evidence: CALT 1F, 2A2, 2A3, 2A4, 2B.1, 2D.2, 2D.3,

4C7 Know/apply in practice considerations for systematically teaching the decoding of multisyllabic words. Evidence: CALT  1F, 2C.1, 2C.2, 2C.3, 2C.4, 2C.5,

4E1 Know/apply in practice considerations for the role of vocabulary development and vocabulary knowledge in oral and written language comprehension. Evidence: CALT 1K, 2F.1, 2F2, 2F3, 2F4, 2F9, 2F.10,

Approved CALT Test Specifications can be viewed here.  

Relevant links to peer reviewed research found here.

Micro-credential Review Process:

Credentials Unlimited follows a rigorous process to approve the micro-credential, ensuring it aligns with high standards in literacy education. The process begins with mapping the course’s assessment or outcome product to the Knowledge and Practice Standards for the Teachers of Reading (IDA, 2017), conducted by literacy experts. This ensures that the course content is aligned with the most current and effective literacy practices. Additionally, an online quality review of the professional development course is completed by a trained Credentials Unlimited team member. This review provides constructive feedback to the course developer, focusing on improving the course, rather than rating it. Literacy experts from Credentials Unlimited also thoroughly review the course content to ensure it meets the expectations and standards of the Science of Reading or Structured Literacy. This comprehensive process guarantees that every micro-credential supports high-quality, evidence-based literacy instruction.