PAF’s professional development focuses on multisensory techniques for teaching reading, spelling, and handwriting in the primary grades. Topics include research-based instructional practices on developing accurate decoding and fluent reading through direct explicit instruction, building vocabulary and comprehension, lesson planning, and assessments.
Courses are taught and support is given by Master Teachers with years of experience teaching PAF in public and independent schools.
For individual teachers seeking professional development in the PAF Reading Program or for new staff hired by districts or schools already implementing PAF, we offer a 16-hour course delivered through a synchronous platform.
The PAF Professional Development for Teachers consists of two parts:
Course (12 hours) will cover:
Ongoing Support (4.5 hours) will include:
Details of upcoming opportunities to attend the PAF Professional Development for Teachers are below.
Description | Total Number of Hours | Total Price | Course Qty |
---|---|---|---|
PAF 2025 Winter Course Course Ongoing Support: |
16.5 | $600 per person (Including Teacher Handbook) |
Teachers can also attend one of the Multisensory Reading Instruction Courses, PAF Part I or Part II, offered at the Windward Institute. Please contact wi@thewindwardschool.org for information and to sign up.
PAF Proficiency Tests
In this two-hour workshop, participants will learn how to administer and analyze the PAF Proficiency Tests. In addition, Master Teachers will explain how to use the qualitative information from this assessment to inform classroom instruction and establish instructional goals for your students.
Read Alouds: A Key Component of a Structured Literacy Program
A thoughtfully planned read aloud is an opportunity for students to expand their vocabulary (Logan et. al, 2019), improve comprehension (Duke & Pearson, 2008), and enrich their background knowledge, while developing their love of reading.
In this workshop participants will gain insight into the research and implementation of Read Alouds to reinforce why this classroom activity is a vital part of a child’s literacy development and how this practice goes hand-in-hand with a comprehensive structured language program.
Join the PAF Reading Program team in adding these skills to your teacher toolkit to expand the breadth of your Read Alouds:
Syllabication and Spelling Rules
In this two-hour workshop, participants will learn how to teach the six syllable types and four rules for dividing words into syllables to help students read multisyllabic words of increasing length. Students will find it much easier to read longer words by breaking them into shorter segments.
The second part of the workshop, Spelling Rules, will focus on the explicit instruction of the rules taught in PAF that focus on short vowels needing an extra letter and rules that govern adding suffixes to root words.
Vocabulary: Reinforcing Vocabulary as a Foundational Skill
Vocabulary is a foundational reading skill and the bridge between word reading and word knowledge. It is key in both receptive vocabulary (reading and listening comprehension) and expressive vocabulary (writing and speaking effectively). This workshop will focus on the early stages of vocabulary building through explicit instruction, diversifying text and discussion exposure, and incorporating skills such as morphology to expand students’ background knowledge and deepen their reading comprehension and both verbal and written expression.
Description | Total Number of Hours | Total Price | Course Qty |
---|---|---|---|
Read Alouds: A Key Component of a Structured Literacy Program Date: December 10, 2024 |
2 | $100 per person | |
Syllabication and Spelling Rules Date: March 4, 2025 |
2 | $100 per person | |
Vocabulary: Reinforcing Vocabulary as a Foundational Skill Date: March 11, 2025 |
2 | $100 per person |
During the 2024-25 school year, all teachers teaching PAF can attend our Office Hours the first Wednesday of every month from 3-4 pm ET/12-1 pm PT by clicking on this Zoom link. Our Master Teachers will be available to answer questions that come up during implementation. No prior registration is required.
PAF Office Hours Dates for the 2024 – 2025 School Year
For information about dates and times of the Ongoing Support part of our summer sessions of the PAF Professional Development for Teachers, please see the tables below.
Description | Total Number of Hours | Total Price | Course Qty |
---|---|---|---|
PAF 2024 Summer Course – Session 2 Course Ongoing Support: |
16.5 | $600 per person (Including Teacher Handbook) |
Description | Total Number of Hours | Total Price | Course Qty |
---|---|---|---|
PAF 2024 Late Summer Course – Session 4 Course Ongoing Support: |
16.5 | $600 per person (Including Teacher Handbook) |