Margaret Smith, M.Ed., C.A.L.T., QI

Margaret Smith has long been an advocate for the appropriate education for dyslexic students. She, along with many others, provided testimony in support of passage of a Texas state law (1985) deeming that public schools shall identify dyslexic students and provide appropriate education. She worked with the Texas Education Agency on a volunteer basis to help draft the original procedures concerning dyslexia and also their subsequent revisions in 1998 and 2001. She served as a member of the Texas Education Agency English Language Arts writing team for developing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts curriculum.

Margaret’s professional career in education began as a public school classroom teacher; after many years as a regular classroom teacher, she received extensive training from the Dyslexia Child Study Unit at Texas Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, a dyslexia research and training center known world-wide. After receiving this training, she taught dyslexic and LD students, Grades 1-12, in a public school setting. At this time there were no curriculum materials available, and Margaret began to develop curriculum materials for implementing the Scottish Rite program, then and now known as Alphabetic Phonics. The curriculum Margaret developed was subsequently published by Educators Publishing Service as Multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA) for reading and spelling.  Margaret regained publication rights to MTA in 2006.

In 1975, Scottish Rite discontinued the teacher training program, and the teacher training unit moved to Dean Learning Center, a private, non-profit organization consisting of a diagnostic unit, a Pre-K-8th school for dyslexic students, and the teacher training unit. In 1976, Aylett Cox, the director of the teacher training unit invited Margaret to join her teaching staff at the Dean Teacher Training Center. Margaret worked closely with Aylett Cox for more than 6 years until 1982. Margaret and her colleague, Edith Hogan, established EDMAR Educational Associates in the fall of 1982, with the goal of training teachers on local school sites. Since then, more than 3000 teachers have been trained by EDMAR staff .

An internationally known author and authority on dyslexia, Margaret is a frequent presenter at state, national, and international conferences on dyslexia.

Education & Professional Training

  • B.A., Baylor University, Waco, TX, cum laude
  • M. Ed., Texas A&M University at Commerce
  • 70 post-Master’s hours, Texas A&M University at Commerce (Margaret actually completed all requirements for the doctorate, including oral and written examinations, except writing the dissertation. At the time she was working intensively to complete the MTA curriculum and had to choose whether to write the dissertation or complete the curriculum to meet the publisher’s deadline, as she couldn’t do both.)

Professional Certifications

  • Texas: Professional Elementary Education, Learning Disabilities, Educational Diagnostician, Educational Supervision
  • Certified Academic Language Therapist, Academic Language Therapy Association, trained at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, Dallas, Texas
  • Certified Qualified Instructor, Academic Language Therapy Association, Dallas, Texas
  • Alphabetic Phonics Master Instructor, Dean Learning Center, Dallas, Texas

Professional Affiliations

  • Founding member and former Board member of the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC), an organization established to accredit dyslexia teacher and dyslexia therapy level training programs.
  • Founding member of the Academic Language Therapy Association, (ALTA), a national professional organization that accredits dyslexia therapists.
  • Founding Member and first president of the Academic Language Therapy Association Centers Council, an organization that accredits dyslexia therapy training programs.
  • International Dyslexia Association, Member since 1975

Professional Experience

  • 2005 to date:  Adjunct Professor, SMU Learning Therapy Program, School of Education and Human Development, Southern Methodist University.
  • 1990 to date: Founder of MTS Publications
  • 1982 to date: Executive Director and co-founder, EDMAR Educational Associates
  • 1976-1982: Associate Director, Dean Teacher Training Center, Dallas, Texas
  • 1979-1980: Assistant Adjunct Professor, Texas A&M University, Commerce, Texas
  • Since 1973: Presenter at local, state, national, and international levels
  • 16 years as a public school teacher, both regular and special education

Publications

  • Multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA) for Reading, Spelling, and Handwriting., 1987.
    MTA is a comprehensive curriculum for teaching the structure of the English language.  It was field tested for nine years.  Research showed significant levels of improvement in reading and spelling in both regular and remedial classes
  • Multisensory Teaching System for Reading and Spelling. 1994.
    MTS is suitable for use as a supplementary program in K-2 grades, or tutorials for older students. MTS is the curriculum for a prison literacy program. This faith-based program, called HOPE (Helping Others Pursue Education), was founded by Lucy Smith. Lucy and her colleagues train literate offenders to teach illiterate offenders to read.
  • Multi-sensory Teaching System (MTS) for Reading, United Kingdom Edition, adapted by Mike Johnson, Sylvia Phillips, and Lindsay Peer. Manchester, England, 1999.
    MTS has been adopted by the United Kingdom Department For Education and Employment as a suitable curriculum for UK schools for their literacy programs.
  • Phoneme Awareness: Assessment, Instruction, Practice, ( now known as Soundations! Phonological Awareness Games and Activities 1996; Revised 2005
  • MTA Spelling Sounds Deck. 1998
  • MTS Handwriting Program (now known as Easing into Cursive). 1999

CO-AUTHOR

  • MTA Alphabet and Dictionary Skills Guide. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service, 1987.
  • MTA Procedures Booklet. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service, 1987.
  • MTA: Teaching a Process for Comprehension and Composition. Forney, TX: MTS Publications, 1991