Explanation of Workshop vs. Certification in Wilson Reading System
The Wilson Reading System Introductory Workshop (WRS) is designed to introduce the principles of multisensory structured language education with the Wilson Reading System. A certified Wilson® trainer introduces general program concepts and provides specific instruction and practice with the lesson plan. Teachers implementing WRS after attending the introductory workshop may need further support such as access to a Certified Wilson Instructor in their school building or school district. Workshop attendees typically work with students needing intervention services to help with their reading progress. The WRS Introductory Workshop is 15 hours long, and teachers may access additional support through a Wilson Academy Basic Membership. While some Teachers with multisensory, structured language training have used the WRS program and materials with a degree of success after attending the WRS Introductory Workshop, they are not considered trained in the Wilson Reading System. Only Level I or II certified individuals can represent themselves as Wilson certified teachers.
Wilson has always recommended that students needing more intense remediation (particularly students with IEPs) receive instruction from a Wilson Certified Teacher. These students typically have a diagnosed learning disability or severe deficits with phonological/orthographic awareness, decoding, encoding, fluency, etc. It is recommended that these students should have teachers that are fully trained and highly qualified to implement WRS.
The WRS Certification process involves attendance at an introductory workshop, 60+ hour supervised practicum, 90 hour online course, and student pre and post testing reports. Teachers in this training receive verbal and written feedback about their lesson planning and delivery as well as expert modeling from a Certified Wilson Trainer. This intense training fully prepares the teacher to work with the student population mentioned in the above paragraph. Trainers assess that the certified teacher has successfully demonstrated the ability to correctly implement the Wilson Reading System incorporating multisensory structured language teaching, diagnostic lesson planning and delivery, and appropriate pacing throughout the program.
WRS Level I Certification qualifies teachers to use the program with individual students. Wilson also offers Level II Certification to prepare teachers to successfully deliver the program to groups of students as well as teach advanced concepts of language structure.