Quick Highlights
- The Arkansas LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) strengthens a standard established by the 2017 Right to Read Act, which requires teachers holding a K-6 or special education K-12 license to demonstrate proficiency in scientific reading instruction.
- A Master of Science in Education in reading prepares you for the reading specialist certification exam and, for those who complete five specific literacy courses, an embedded dyslexia endorsement.
- An Education Specialist in reading builds on an existing master’s degree and prepares you for the PRAXIS Reading Specialist exam plus district-level literacy leadership roles.
- A dyslexia certificate maps directly to Arkansas’s K-3 dyslexia screening mandate and does not require a current teaching license to start.
Arkansas has placed a stronger statewide emphasis on literacy instruction and reading outcomes. For many educators, the question is no longer whether to pursue additional literacy training, but which credential best aligns with state expectations and career goals.
The online Master of Science in Education (MSE) in Reading program is one of three Arkansas State University (A-State) credentials built around this exact requirement, alongside the online Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in Reading program and the online Dyslexia Certificate program. The right starting point depends on what you already hold and the role you are aiming for.
What the Arkansas LEARNS Act Requires of Reading Teachers
The Arkansas LEARNS Act is Act 237 of 2023, a wide-reaching K-12 law signed in March 2023. Specifically on literacy, LEARNS did not start from zero. It accelerated enforcement of the state’s 2017 Right to Read Act, which already required any Arkansas teacher holding a K-6 or special education K-12 license to demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and practices of scientific reading instruction, according to the Arkansas Advocate.
The LEARNS Act’s literacy provisions touch every part of a K-3 classroom, not just reading instruction time. Three requirements matter most for a working teacher:
- The state requires dyslexia screening for every kindergarten through third grade student. Instruction for students who show dyslexia markers must be explicit, individualized and multisensory, using materials grounded in the science of reading, according to the Arkansas Department of Education.
- The state places dedicated literacy coaches in schools that earned a D or an F on the state’s report card. The role requires a minimum of three years of experience teaching literacy plus an active Arkansas teaching license.
- A third-grade reading standard ties fourth-grade promotion to a student’s score on the Grade 3 ATLAS English Language Arts assessment, phased in starting with the 2025-26 school year, per the Arkansas Department of Education’s implementation guidance. Good-cause exemptions apply for students with disabilities, limited English proficiency or prior retention.
These requirements are established in state policy and affect literacy instruction across Arkansas public schools. That is the shift this legislation created: reading instruction moved from a professional development topic to a compliance requirement, and the person in the building who fixes reading became a formal role. For a broader breakdown of everything else the Act changed, including teacher pay and school accountability, A-State’s Arkansas LEARNS Act guide for school leaders covers the full picture.
Endorsement or Reading Specialist: What Each Credential Lets You Do
Most Arkansas teacher preparation programs build a literacy endorsement into the standard elementary license, which is sufficient to meet the baseline Right to Read Act requirement of demonstrating proficiency in scientific reading instruction in your own classroom. It is not the same as being a reading specialist.
A literacy endorsement qualifies you to teach reading well. A reading specialist credential, earned through a master’s or Ed.S. program, qualifies you to assess reading difficulties using formal assessment tools, design intervention plans for individual students, coach other teachers on evidence-based reading strategies and take on a formal title such as reading specialist, literacy coach or literacy interventionist. That distinction helps explain why many literacy coaching and intervention roles favor advanced literacy training and classroom experience beyond the baseline endorsement held by most elementary teachers.
Read more: For a full walkthrough of reading specialist certification requirements, A-State’s guide on becoming a reading specialist breaks down the Ed.S. path in more detail. That distinction matters most for teachers who already hold a master’s degree and are deciding whether the additional Ed.S. coursework is worth the time.
Which A-State Credential Best Aligns With Arkansas LEARNS Literacy Requirements?
Arkansas State University offers three credentials that map to different parts of the LEARNS Act’s literacy mandate, and the honest answer to which one you need depends on what you already hold. Licensure programs within A-State’s College of Education & Behavioral Science, including all three of these credentials, are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
The online MSE in Reading is the entry point for most classroom teachers. It prepares graduates to pursue Arkansas reading specialist licensure requirements, including any required assessments, for those who complete five specific literacy courses, an embedded dyslexia endorsement, positioning graduates to fill literacy coach and reading intervention specialist roles under the Act. As Dr. Karen Kleppe Graham, faculty in A-State’s MSE in Reading program, puts it, “I am in academia because I want to support teacher candidates and in-service teachers in becoming the best educators they can possibly be.”
The online Ed.S. in Reading is a post-master’s credential for teachers who already hold a graduate degree in reading or another education field. It expands scope of practice beyond the MSE toward the PRAXIS Reading Specialist exam and district-level literacy leadership, the kind of role LEARNS Act’s D and F school coaching positions are built around.
The online Dyslexia Certificate maps most directly to the Act’s dyslexia screening and intervention mandate. Its curriculum is aligned with International Dyslexia Association and International Literacy Association standards. Unlike the two degree programs, it does not require a current teaching license or classroom experience to begin. Admission is a bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA plus a commitment from a literacy coach, reading specialist or other mentor with reading and language arts experience.
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Credential
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What it Requires to Start
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What It Qualifies You to Do Under LEARNS
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Literacy endorsement (built into standard license)
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Standard Arkansas teaching license
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Demonstrate scientific reading instruction proficiency inside your own classroom
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MSE in Reading
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Bachelor’s degree, teaching license, 3.0 GPA and mentor commitment
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Sit for the reading specialist certification exam; qualify for literacy coach and reading intervention specialist roles; embedded dyslexia endorsement pathway
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Ed.S. in Reading
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Master’s degree in reading or education, valid teaching license, 3.0 GPA and mentor commitment
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Sit for the PRAXIS Reading Specialist exam; take on district-level literacy coaching and leadership roles
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Dyslexia Certificate
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Bachelor’s degree, 3.0 GPA and mentor commitment, with no teaching license required
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Develop knowledge and skills related to dyslexia screening, intervention and multisensory literacy instruction aligned with Arkansas requirements
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Choosing between these three paths is only half the decision. The other half is fitting whichever credential you pick into a schedule that does not pause for a full-time teaching job, which is where the timelines below matter as much as the requirements above.
Finishing the Credential While You Keep Teaching
Every one of A-State’s reading credentials is built for someone who has no intention of stepping out of the classroom to earn it. Each program runs on an accelerated online calendar with multiple start dates a year, so the format is built around a teaching schedule rather than a traditional academic one.
The online MSE in Reading can be completed in as few as 12 months, with multiple start dates across fall, spring and summer terms so you are never stuck waiting a full year to begin. The online Ed.S. in Reading, designed for teachers who already hold a master’s, runs 12 to 18 months on the same calendar. Lewis and Laura Hunt, who earned their Ed.S. degrees at A-State, described that timeline this way: “It took 18 months to finish. It went by really, really quickly, and then you’ve got your degree. […] It is a real-world education with real-world scenarios.” The Dyslexia Certificate is the shortest path at as few as 8 months, reflecting its narrower, single-mandate focus on dyslexia screening and intervention.
Important Note
As A-State’s Arkansas LEARNS Act guide for school leaders explains, the LEARNS Act raised Arkansas’s minimum teacher salary floor to $50,000 but did not preserve an automatic pay increase for earning a master’s degree. Districts now decide independently whether a reading credential carries a salary premium. The stronger case for pursuing one is the required scope of practice it unlocks under state law, not a guaranteed raise.
Does the Arkansas Department of Education Recognize This Credential?
Yes. All three programs sit within A-State’s College of Education and Behavioral Science, which is CAEP-accredited, and the online MSE and Ed.S. in Reading programs both align their coursework to International Literacy Association (ILA) standards, per A-State’s own program pages. The Dyslexia Certificate curriculum is aligned with International Dyslexia Association and International Literacy Association standards covering screening, multisensory intervention and the legal protections that apply to dyslexia services in Arkansas public schools.
Because the Arkansas Department of Education can update state recognition and specific licensure pathways, confirm your own eligibility requirements against the state’s licensure disclosures before enrolling, particularly if you are transferring a license from another state. This is especially worth checking for the MSE and the Dyslexia Certificate, since A-State’s current disclosure table shows a specific determination for the Ed.S. in Reading but not yet for those two programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How does an online Ed.S. in reading compare to a standard literacy endorsement for Arkansas teachers?
A: A literacy endorsement is built into a standard elementary license and lets a teacher meet the baseline Right to Read Act requirement inside their own classroom. An Ed.S. in reading is a post-master’s credential that qualifies a teacher to sit for the PRAXIS Reading Specialist exam and take on district-level literacy coaching and leadership roles, well beyond what an endorsement alone covers.
Q: What online reading specialist master’s programs are recognized by the Arkansas Department of Education?
A: A-State’s online MSE in Reading program sits within a CAEP-accredited college of education and follows ILA standards, positioning graduates to sit for the state’s reading specialist certification exam. Confirm current recognition against A-State’s state authorization and licensure disclosures before enrolling, since requirements can change.
Q: Which online dyslexia interventionist certificate programs meet Arkansas’s dyslexia screening and treatment requirements?
A: A-State’s Dyslexia Certificate is aligned with International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and ILA standards and covers the screening, multisensory intervention and legal-rights knowledge Arkansas’s dyslexia rules require. It takes as few as 8 months and only requires a bachelor’s degree to start.
Q: How long does it take to complete an online reading specialist program while teaching full time in Arkansas?
A: A-State’s online MSE in Reading program takes as few as 12 months, the online Ed.S. in Reading program 12-18 months and the Dyslexia Certificate as few as 8 months. All three run in accelerated terms as short as 5 weeks during summer sessions and 7 weeks the rest of the year, built around a full-time teaching schedule.
Q: What do A-State reading graduates say about choosing a program?
A: Kimberly Dickens, who earned her MSE in Reading online at A-State, said the coursework decided it for her: “When I was looking at the course descriptions, those were things that I knew would help me specifically with what I was trying to achieve.” That is the right test, since the three credentials differ mainly in what they let you do next.
Q: I tutor struggling readers on my own. What online credential would formalize my expertise?
A: The online Dyslexia Certificate program is built for exactly this situation. It does not require a current teaching license or classroom position, only a bachelor’s degree, a 3.0 GPA and a mentor commitment, and it gives you a formal, standards-aligned credential in intervention and multisensory instruction that independent tutoring experience alone does not confer.
Q: Do I need a master’s degree before I can enroll in the Ed.S. in reading?
A: Yes. A-State’s online Ed.S. in Reading program requires an existing master’s degree in reading or another education field, a 3.0 GPA and a valid teaching license. Teachers without a master’s typically start with the MSE in Reading first.
Q: Does earning a reading credential guarantee a raise or a promotion in Arkansas?
A: No. The LEARNS Act raised Arkansas’s minimum teacher salary but did not preserve an automatic pay increase for earning an advanced degree, so any salary premium for a reading credential is now decided on a district-by-district basis. The stronger case for these credentials is the scope of practice and specialized roles they open under state law, not a guaranteed raise.
Key Takeaways
- The Arkansas LEARNS Act was built on the 2017 Right to Read Act to require K-3 dyslexia screening, dedicated literacy coaches in D and F schools and a third-grade reading standard tied to the ATLAS assessment.
- A standard literacy endorsement covers baseline classroom instruction. A reading specialist credential is required for coaching, diagnostic intervention and formal literacy leadership roles.
- A-State’s online MSE in Reading, Ed.S. in Reading and Dyslexia Certificate programs each map to a different part of the mandate, and the right starting point depends on the credential you already hold.
- All three programs run entirely online in accelerated terms, from as few as 8 months for the Dyslexia Certificate to 12-18 months for the Ed.S.
- None of these credentials guarantee a salary increase under Arkansas law. The case for pursuing one is professional scope, not automatic pay.
Arkansas has strengthened its focus on literacy instruction through the LEARNS Act and related reading initiatives, increasing demand for educators with advanced literacy expertise. What changes from here is mostly a matter of paperwork you already have: a bachelor’s degree points toward the MSE or the Dyslexia Certificate, while an existing master’s opens the door to the Ed.S., so the credential that matches your current license is the one worth starting first.
Learn more about A-State’s online MSE in Reading program and see how it, the online Ed.S. in Reading program or the online Dyslexia Certificate program fits your next step.