Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) and

Certified Academic Language Practitioner (CALP) classes

offered the summer 2024 (June 17-28, 2024). Call 940-231-6780 for more details.

Taught by a Qualified Dyslexia Teacher Instructor

certified by the professional organization,

Academic Language Therapist Association (ALTA)

Year One:

Basic Introduction Course (Practioner Level Training)

10 days of training plus 4 seminars during the school year.

(2024 summer dates for Cohort 1 is June 17th - 28th, 2024)

Tuition: $ 2,000.00 plus MTA materials Kits 1, 2, and 3, a specific materials list required for the course, the Multisensory Teaching of Language Skills Edition 4 by Judith Birsh and Foundations of Language Text by Aylett Cox.

Course Requirements:

  • Prerequisite: Minimum of a Bachlelor’s Degree in education or related field

  • Attendance at all ten Basic Course Classroom Lectures- 100 hours minimum (no more than 50% virtual instruction)

  • Attendance at the four Basic Course Seminars during the school year

  • Attendance at one professional dyslexia conference

  • Five demonstration, full-lesson, classroom observations (self-critiqued and instructor-critiqued)

  • Four Book reports, four article reviews, one staff awareness presentation, one parent night presentation, one data collection profile

  • **Daily teaching of student(s) or group(s) to acquire supervised clinical teaching hours (group instruction counts as one session towards the hours) is a must.

    • Teaching/Practitioner Level requires a minimum of 100 teaching hours

    • Daily lesson must last a minimum of 45 minutes

  • Teaching over a time-span of nine months, at a minimum, to complete course requirements

  • Successful competition of final exam

Year Two:

Advanced Course (Therapist Level Training)

Tuition: $2,000 plus MTA materials Kits 4, 5, 6 and 7 and a specific materials list provided to participants.

Course Requirements:

  • Prerequite: Successful completion of all Basic Course requirements (Practitioner Level Training)

  • Attendance at ten days of Advanced Course Training (no more than 50% completed virtually)

  • Attendance at four Advanced Course Seminars throughout the school year

  • Attendance at one professional dyslexia conference

  • Five demonstration, full-lesson, classroom observations (self-critiqued and instructor-critiqued)

  • Four Book Reports, four Article reviews, one case study

  • **Daily teaching of student(s) or group(s) to acquire supervised clinical teaching hours (group instruction counts as one session towards the hours ) is a must.

    • Teaching/Practitioner Level requires a minimum of 100 teaching hours

    • Daily lesson must last a minimum of 45 minutes

  • Successful completion of final exam

  • Therapist Level requires a minimum of 700 cumulative teaching hours (including year one hours) The therapist must have a minimum of 3 therapy situations (3 groups/classes beginning from Kit 1 and advancing through Kit 7). Teaching in the advanced portion of the curriculum while fulfilling clinical teaching hours is a must.

Spring 2024

MTA 9-Day Teacher Training Requirements and District Considerations

Course Description: This 5-day course workshop will outline the MTA curriculum manipulating the paper materials so teachers are ready to teach children after the 5 days of training. The 4 follow-up seminars to be scheduled throughout the school year and are required to complete the training.

Audience: Public and Charter School Certified teachers, Special Education teachers, Coordinators, Administrators.

Commitment: All participants are required to attend each 5-consecutive full-day virtual training and each of the 4- virtual trainings that are held during the school year to earn a completion certificate of MTA training (all missed class time must be made-up).

Cost: $1,200 per participant for all 9 days to complete the MTA training

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Teacher Trainee Commitment Considerations:

  1. Teachers must have a four-year college degree, preferably in education. 

  2. Teachers must be able to demonstrate the ability to use the skills learned in the workshop with students in their classroom. 

  3. The teacher must be open-minded and willing to learn in a different way. The training is a full week of learning at a rapid pace.

  4. Teachers should have had teaching experience with students who learn differently.

  5. Teachers must be willing to spend time studying and preparing lessons during the training and while teaching the curriculum during the school year.

  6. Teachers must be willing to complete daily out-of-class assignments during the training. 

  7. Teaching children while taking the course is extremely beneficial for the understanding of the process.

District Commitment Considerations:

Every campus should be committed to meeting the following criteria for the MTA program to be successful.

  1. For the students to gain the most benefit from the remediation of MTA, the classes should meet 4-5 times weekly for 45 minutes each day.  A minimum of 45-minutes is required for optimum student progress. If classes meet less than 45-minute sessions, student progress will be compromised.

  2. Teachers of MTA should have time for daily lesson planning and class preparation.

  3. Classes should be limited to a maximum of 6 students. Smaller classes will progress faster. Teachers must directly instruct each lesson.

  4. Private teaching areas are much more effective than ‘shared’ classrooms for this curriculum.

  5. Teachers must be permitted to attend each of the nine days of training.

  6. Teachers must have required MTA materials to participate in the training.

  7. Scheduling of MTA classes should be a priority of campus administration to allow students to receive the support needed.

  8. Choosing good trainees to attend MTA trainings will cause the program and the students to flourish.