Bethel University to offer Academic Language Practitioner certification
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Bethel University has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Academic Language Therapy Associate to offer a Certified Academic Language Practitioner, or CALP, certification for students who earn their bachelor’s degree in education.
The university said it is the first undergraduate institution in the country to offer the certification.
CALP is a professional certification for dyslexia and related disorders. The university said in addition to earning a national certification, graduates will be prepared with the tools to provide additional dyslexia intervention to their future students on their first day of teaching.
Bethel said the addition of the certification follows program changes within the university’s education department.
“As the first initiative for our newly developed BU Center for Literacy, we ensured our curriculum was fully aligned with the science of reading,” Michelle Fish director of the Center for Literacy and associate professor of education, said in a news release. “However, our desire was to make changes that would not just meet minimum state requirements but would be the gold standard for teacher preparedness in the field of reading science.”
The BU Center for Literacy was established with the help of a nearly $500,000 grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded in late 2023.