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:

• An overview of research-based multisensory techniques for teaching reading, spelling, and handwriting
• Components of a PAF lesson at various levels in the sequence
• Planning a PAF lesson
• Instructional practices for developing accuracy, fluency, and comprehension
• Meeting the needs of diverse students, including mulitlingual learners, students at risk of learning difficulties, and accelerated learners
• Administering and analyzing PAF’s curriculum-based assessments

Ongoing Support (4.5 hours) will include:

• Lesson planning
• Placement of students into instructional groups
• Pacing of instruction
• Differentiating instruction
• Instructional language
• Question and answer sessions

Details of upcoming opportunities to attend the PAF Professional Development for Teachers are below. 

• Session recordings cannot be viewed after the scheduled training session.
• A certificate of completion of PAF professional development will be delivered to each participant provided that proof of attendance is delivered to the PAF team by the school or district. PAF will not be responsible for taking attendance. 

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:

• Picking a read aloud book
• Outlining opportunities and roadblocks
• Addressing background knowledge for inclusivity
• Strategies for “Think 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.

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

• September 04
• October 02
• November 06
• December 04
• January 08 (2nd Wednesday!)
• February 05
• March 05
• April 02
• May 07
• June 04

PAF Office Hours Zoom Link