Act 48 • Science of Reading: Structured Literacy Foundations for All Educators, PreK–12
45 Act 48 Hours — or upgrade to 90 Act 48 Hours + 3 Graduate Credits. Online & Self-Paced.
Earn Your Act 48 Hours Online.
We Upload to PERMS for You — Same Day, 7 Days a Week.
Self-paced with no deadlines. No meetings. No busywork. 100% PDE-compliant.
Trusted by 10,000+ educators nationwide since 2015.
Finish at your own pace — and we handle the reporting.
Complete this course and we upload your 45 Act 48 hours directly to PERMS — same day, seven days a week. Hours typically post within 24 hours, so even a deadline crunch is safe with us. Want to fast-track with 90 Act 48 hours and/or bank 3 graduate credits toward a lane change? You can add the optional graduate-credit upgrade anytime — even after you finish.
Confirm For Teachers By Teachers (AUN 300000925) in the official PDE PERMS system.
- Choose “View Approved Providers.”
- In Provider Name, type: For Teachers By Teachers.
- Press Search to see our active listing (AUN 300000925).
Choose your option:
Standard option. Finish the course, and we report your hours to PERMS — same day, no extra steps.
Enrollment stays $165.
Add 3 credits anytime: pay the optional $190 transcript fee — even after you complete the course.
Instead of 45 hours, PDE reports 90 hours when you choose the credit option.
Credits appear on a letter-grade transcript (UMass Global).
Move over on your district's salary schedule — a lane change isn't a one-time bonus, it's a raise that repeats every school year. (Lane policies vary by district — check your salary schedule.)
You’ll get the purchase link inside your course, and your official UMass Global transcript is provided.
Newer Pennsylvania teachers must convert an Instructional I certificate to Instructional II (Level II) within 6 years of service, and that conversion takes 24 post-baccalaureate credits. Each graduate-credit upgrade gives you 3 credits toward those 24 — so the same $190 upgrade that takes your Act 48 hours to 90 and moves you on the salary schedule also moves you toward Level II. Three benefits, one upgrade.
These are graduate-level professional-development credits (not a degree program), issued on an official UMass Global transcript. Level II certification also requires satisfactory service, PDE-approved induction, and the PDE evaluation, and you apply for it yourself through PDE (TIMS) — it's not something we file for you. Confirm your specifics with your district or PDE.
4-Course Bundle (180 Hours)
$399 (save $261 vs. buying 4 courses individually).
Complete all 4 now or take them one at a time. No deadlines.
(Optional 3 graduate credits per course.)
7-day refund window — enroll and try it risk-free.
Course Description:
Something remarkable is happening in reading education. Across the country — in more than forty states and counting — schools are returning to what decades of research tell us about how children actually learn to read. This course is your complete, teacher-friendly guide to that science: what it says, why it matters, and exactly what to do with it in your classroom.
Science of Reading: Structured Literacy Foundations for All Educators walks you through the full arc of evidence-based reading instruction — how the brain builds its reading circuitry, why phonemic awareness and systematic phonics form the foundation, how fluency, vocabulary, and background knowledge power comprehension, how to recognize and support struggling readers (including students with characteristics of dyslexia), and how to bring structured literacy into any grade level or content area. Every module translates the research into plain language and practical moves you can use Monday morning.
You'll finish with your own Literacy Action Plan — a personalized, step-by-step roadmap for bringing the science of reading to the students you serve, whatever your role and wherever you teach.
What You'll Learn:
- How the Reading Brain Works: Why reading isn't natural the way spoken language is — and why that makes skilled teaching so powerful. You'll master the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough's Reading Rope, two research-validated frameworks that explain exactly what skilled reading requires.
- Phonemic Awareness & Systematic Phonics: The difference between phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics — and how explicit, systematic instruction, paired with decodable texts, builds confident word-readers from the very first lessons.
- Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension: How to build the bridge from decoding to deep understanding, with evidence-based routines for fluency practice, vocabulary that sticks, and knowledge-rich comprehension instruction.
- Recognizing & Supporting Struggling Readers: What dyslexia is (and isn't), how screening and progress monitoring work, and how MTSS layers support so every reader gets what they need — all through a strengths-based lens that honors every learner's capability.
- Structured Literacy Across the Curriculum: The six principles of structured literacy and how to weave them into every subject and grade level — including support for multilingual and diverse learners — plus your own step-by-step Literacy Action Plan.
Why Educators Love This Course:
- Practical From Day One: Every concept connects to real classroom application — concrete strategies, sample routines, and ready-to-use tools you can bring to your students immediately.
- Hopeful and Strengths-Based: This course reframes reading difficulty the way the science does — not as something wrong with a child, but as skills we can name, assess, and strengthen, with dignity at the center.
- Flexible and Teacher-Friendly: 100% self-paced and online. Complete modules anytime, anywhere — no meetings, no start dates, no due dates.
- Grounded in Research, Written for Real Classrooms: Built on the findings of the National Reading Panel and current structured literacy scholarship — explained in warm, plain language, never jargon.
Transform Your Teaching:
Whether you teach PreK or 12th grade, reading intervention or high-school history, this course will change how you see every reader in front of you. You'll understand what's happening when reading clicks, what to do when it doesn't, and how to be the confident, informed advocate your students need.
You don't need to be working with students right now to participate fully — classroom teachers, specialists, coaches, counselors, administrators, and educators between roles are all welcome and supported.
Enroll Today:
Earn 3 graduate-level credits (45 hours) while building the literacy knowledge every educator deserves. Teachers across the country are stepping into the science of reading — step in feeling equipped, hopeful, and ready.
Self-Paced, Quiz-Based, and Completely Online
Forget portfolios or lengthy written assignments — this is stress-free professional learning designed with YOU in mind. With no start dates and no due dates, you can begin and finish the course whenever it’s convenient. You don’t need to be working with students to complete it, and there are no scheduled meetings. The course is 100% self-paced and self-guided — so you can work whenever and wherever it fits your life.
- ✔️ 100% Online & Self-Paced — Start and finish anytime.
- ✔️ Quiz-Based, No Busywork — Retake quizzes as needed; no meetings.
- ✔️ PreK–12 Relevant — Applies to all grades, subjects, and roles.
Use the enrollment button at the top of this page to get immediate access to your online classroom.
- ✔️ Full access to all course materials
- ✔️ 45 Act 48 hours uploaded to PERMS the same day you finish
Start anytime. Finish at your own pace.
This optional credit upgrade changes your Act 48 reporting from 45 to 90 total Act 48 hours.
- ✔️ Enrollment stays $165
- ✔️ Pay the optional $190 fee for 3-credits anytime — even after you finish
- ✔️ Credits appear on a letter-grade transcript (UMass Global)
- ✔️ Move over on your district's salary schedule — a raise that repeats every year (lane policies vary by district)
- ✔️ Counts toward the 24 post-baccalaureate credits required for Pennsylvania Level II certification — 3 of 24 (other requirements apply)
- ✔️ You’ll get the optional credit purchase link and step-by-step instructions inside your online classroom
Graduate-level semester credit issued by UMass Global — a regionally accredited university partner.
* Each graduate credit equals 30 Act 48 hours.
Your Course Instructor
For Teachers By Teachers is led by a highly credentialed team of licensed educators with professional certifications spanning PK–12 education. Our collective expertise includes Special Education, Reading Specialist practice, Art Education, and a broad range of PK–12 specialties, grounded in decades of real-world classroom and school-based experience.
We create flexible, high-quality online learning for educators, created by educators who understand the demands of the classroom and are committed to meaningful, practical growth.
For questions or support, contact info@forteachersbyteachers.org