UCF Literacy Symposium

The UCF Literacy Symposium is a professional learning outreach initiative within the UCF School of Teacher Education that continually supports the professional needs of PreK-12 educators in the fields of reading and literacy education.

Founded in 2000 by Dr. Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Professor of Reading Education, the symposium hosts in-person and online events for educators, scholars, researchers, and the community throughout the year and provides a monthly newsletter with resources applying recent literacy scholarship.

The UCF Literacy Symposium outreach also highlights and supports School of Teacher Education graduate degrees in Reading Education and the PhD in Education, Teaching, Learning, and Development doctoral program track.

2025 Literacy Symposium

Empowering Teachers and Advancing Student Learning Through Disciplinary Literacy

Disciplinary literacy refers to the development of specific literacy skills required for learning in different academic subjects. It is guided by the ways professionals like historians, scientists, mathematicians, or artists utilize literacy (e.g., reading, writing, speaking) to create, communicate, and evaluate knowledge within their fields.

By focusing on disciplinary literacy, teachers can enhance their students’ literacy skills while simultaneously deepening their subject knowledge. This approach offers additional benefits, such as boosting vocabulary, making academic learning more engaging, fostering critical thinking, and preparing students for success in 2025 and beyond!

In 2025, our webinars and monthly newsletters will focus on the essentials of disciplinary literacy (i.e., what it is, why it matters, and how to implement it) across the following six key areas. Our goal is to provide you with valuable insights and tools designed to strengthen disciplinary literacy, promote effective learning, and encourage collaboration within your school environment.

1. Empower teachers to provide literacy instruction that engages students in learning and doing within the subject areas.
2. Cultivate a foundation of disciplinary literacy in elementary school to prepare students for the academic demands of middle and high school.
3. Teach students how to read, write, and critically evaluate discipline-specific texts.
4. Model disciplinary discourse, habits of mind, and design opportunities for collaborative problem-solving.
5. Utilize discipline-specific practices that simultaneously enhance students' literacy skills and deepen their content knowledge.
6. Maximize teacher efficacy by supporting collaborative cross-disciplinary collaborations in schools.

We look forward to seeing you in 2025!