Online Teacher Reading Academies, SERP Institutes available via the Web through Searchlight
The K-3 Texas Online Teacher Reading Academies (OTRAs) and Special Education Reading Project (SERP) Elementary and Secondary Institutes are now available through Searchlight, an online database and course management system that provides access to many of the research-based instructional resources developed by the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts.
Searchlight offers three options to access the Vaughn Gross Center’s high-quality professional development materials: Go Search, Go Explore, and Go Learn. Go Search functions much like a search engine, allowing users to search Center products by keyword to find results across grade levels and within several different publications at once. With Go Explore, users can browse key topics in reading instruction organized by grade, topic, or resource. And finally, users can take advantage of the Go Learn function to take online courses and receive continuing professional education (CPE) credit — all without having to use a CD-ROM such as the current OTRA courses.
Searchlight provides easy access to select Vaughn Gross Center products as well as the option to search smaller clusters of information. For example, the complete Texas Kindergarten Online Teacher Reading Academy (KOTRA) is available as an online course (for credit), but users also have the option of working through one or more individual sections. If only a particular lesson from KOTRA is needed, the search function allows the user to easily retrieve it.
In addition to providing easy access to instructional materials ranging from handouts to lessons to instructional videos and online courses, Searchlight features a TIPS section that offers helpful documents such as “Frequently Asked Questions” and “Getting Started with Go Learn.”
The Vaughn Gross Center developed Searchlight with Reading First funds provided by the Texas Education Agency.