About Us

Gretchen Courtney
& Associates, Ltd.
Literacy Engineering Firm

9 South 3rd Street

St. Charles, IL 60174

630-377-6794 phone

630-587-0524 fax

gcourtneyassoc@sbcglobal.net

Home 4

About Us 4

Paragraphville 4

Gretchen Courtney & Associates, Ltd. is a unique group of highly trained consultants specializing in professional development for literacy instruction.

For more than twenty years, Gretchen Courtney & Associates, Ltd. has led presentations, workshops, and staff development projects. Our consultants have years of classroom experience and consulting expertise. We deliver professional development packed with research-based information, classroom artifacts and anecdotes, and correlations to state standards and frameworks.

Gretchen Courtney & Associates, Ltd. also leads schools and school districts through a comprehensive curriculum organization and review process. Each aspect of lesson planning and curriculum mapping, from text selection to summative assessment, is designed with the specialized needs of each school population. Our six-step process for literacy engineering addresses all aspects of instruction, assessment, and learning.

We design your staff development program and carefully select your consultants to match the specific needs of your school community.

Literacy Engineering
Gretchen Courtney and Associates provides leadership for literacy development by employing a six-stage process improving student achievement. Our firm provides long- and short-term curriculum and professional development based on school systems-specific needs.

Gretchen Courtney

Dynamically engaging, Gretchen presents informative research-supported services spanning all areas of literacy. She offers instruction with an enthusiasm that extends to groups large and small. Her intellect and experience uniquely qualify Gretchen to guide districts in designing literacy initiatives that result in the success of all students. A sought-after professional on both the international and national level, Gretchen works with more than three hundred clients nationwide annually.

In addition, Gretchen is an experienced Title 1 reading specialist and accomplished author in the field of literacy instruction. Her first publication, Celebrate Literature! is an annotated teacher’s guide for elementary level literature instruction. Story Drama: A New Literature Experience (PreK–3) and Story Dramas for Grades 4–6: A Literature Experience for Children offers a way to increase dramatic response to reading. Her well-read publication, Nonfiction Literacy, is an insightful guide to the nonfiction genre. Gretchen has just completed a reading comprehension six part series of books for grades K–12, entitled Comprehension Keystones.

Audit and evaluate all phases of district literacy education

Design frameworks for literacy and professional development

Lead staff development sessions to develop expertise

Provide in-class demonstrations of literacy learning

Audit

Plan

Inform

Model

Monitor

Review

Support teacher learning with feedback on lesson development and delivery

Assess continually to evaluate and adjust instruction