David Kilpatrick Ph.D. Book Studies - SLD Online Professional Learning

Online Professional Learning with David Kilpatrick Ph.D.

The Colorado Department of Education has created two self-paced, asynchronous eLearning series. These courses follow Dr. David Kilpatrick's books, The Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (Wiley, 2015) and Equipped for Reading Success (Casey & Kirsch 2016). Learn more about these courses by reading through the questions below. 

When do these courses happen?

These courses run every spring, summer, and fall. Join the SLD listserv to receive announcements about registration. You can subscribe to the SLD listserv by sending an email to: SLD-subscribe-request@cdelist.cde.state.co.us

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How is the course content different between Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties & Equipped for Reading Success? 

Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties

The Assessing Preventing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties course is a great introduction to the science of reading. The course examines the many prevailing myths about how students learn to read and dives into the science to explain the real cause of reading difficulties. It also discusses in depth what strategies actually work for struggling readers and why they work. It is a great course for those just beginning their journey to better understand the science of reading. Or for someone who has read the book, but feels they still need more explanation of the content. 

Equipped for Reading Success

Equipped for Reading Success focuses more on the implementation of scientific, research-based assessments and interventions for early literacy and remedial interventions for students who show risk factors for reading difficulties and disabilities. 

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Is it recommended that one course before the other?…. Which one should be taken first?

If you are looking to become better informed about the science of reading, you may want to start with Assessing Preventing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (APORD) and then take the Equipped for Reading Success (EfRS) for more information about implementation of the strategies discussed in APORD.  

If you are familiar with David Kilpatrick’s work and are wanting more guidance around how to implement strategies, EfRS is a good place to start. 

If you are a reading or instructional coach and you think these resources would be useful in your support of teachers, it would be beneficial to take both courses to be familiar with the content for coaching purposes. 

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Who are these courses designed for?

Both courses are open to any Colorado public educator or school leader who is interested in deepening their understanding of the science of reading.

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Do I need the books to complete the courses?

Participants DO NOT need the books to complete these online courses. However, participants  may want to view the courses as tandem companions or supplemental resources for supporting a study of the books. However, participants WILL NEED the book Equipped for Reading Success to implement the assessment and instructional practices with their students.

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What are the requirements for these courses?

Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties

The Assessing, Preventing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties course requires participants to watch 13 module videos, respond to discussion questions and complete short assessments for each module as well as a final course evaluation.

Equipped for Reading Success ​

The Equipped for Reading Success course requires participants to watch 16 module videos and complete short assessments for each module as well as a final course evaluation.

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How many CDE credit hours will participants receive upon successful completion of the requirements?

Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties 

15 CDE Professional Development credit hours.

Equipped for Reading Success

10 CDE Professional Development credit hours.

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Do these courses count toward READ Act training requirement?

Neither the course Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties presented by David Kilpatrick Ph.D. nor the Equipped for Reading Success course satisfy the professional development requirements outlined in the newly revised Colorado READ Act. There are seven different options of professional development that do satisfy that requirement. Please visit the CO READ Act website for information about those options.

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Can educators who do not teach in a Colorado public school take the courses?

The seasonal courses are reserved for Colorado public educators. If you are not a Colorado public educator, you can access the free, open-source version of these courses any time as a guest through the CDE LMS. It does not include the assessments or the discussion forum and the CDE credit hours are not available for these courses, but they have all the same videos and are great companion pieces to Dr. Kilpatrick's books. These open-source courses are also useful to participants who have completed the seasonal courses for credit, but want to revisit the information and resources.

You can access those open-source courses here:

Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties

Equipped for Reading Success 

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Additional Questions

Emily Ottinger
Specific Learning Disability Specialist
Email Emily Ottinger
720-456-5301