Rita Meagher - Strategies for Learning

Clinician

Rita Meagher is a third-generation Oaklander and has spent her career teaching children with special needs. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Special Education from Holy Names University, along with a California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and a California Special Education Credential. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology with an Emphasis on Child Development from Santa Clara University. She is certified as a Lindamood-Bell Reading Specialist. Rita has over 30 years of teaching experience as a Special Education Teacher.

She has worked at the Raskob Institute and Raskob Day School as Head Teacher, and later for the Oakland Unified School District as a Special Day Class Teacher and Resource Specialist. Rita has been a mentor teacher and coach. She has held professional development for teachers, primarily on reading instruction in both General Education and Special Education settings. She is both a Reading and Behavior Specialist and was a Master Teacher at OUSD’s successful District Reading Clinic. Rita also played an essential role in the development of Special Education programs for OUSD. Rita has also received recognition for her work as an educator. She was given the award of ‘Outstanding Teacher of Alameda County’ by the Peralta Council of California’s Alpha Delta Kappa International Sorority for Outstanding Women Educators. She was also commended for her work in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Honoring Best Teachers in America with the acknowledgment of ‘Excellence as a Distinguished Educator’.

In addition to her years of experience, Rita has a deep and genuine passion for teaching, particularly teaching reading. She sees and works with the child as a whole person, not just as a student. She has worked successfully with a wide variety of exceptional students with varying learning profiles, who come from all socio-economic, cultural, and family backgrounds. She has taught students in all academic areas, enabling them to grow and succeed in all areas. Beyond academics, she has supported her students in learning to advocate for themselves. Rita has worked to build her students’ confidence, self-esteem, and belief in their ability to learn. Additionally, she has taught coping strategies to students who are frustrated or feeling defeated in academic settings, providing them with tools to further their independence to adulthood.

Areas of focus: Teaching students with Specific Learning Disabilities, reading decoding, reading comprehension, reading fluency, Orton-Gillingham and programs stemming from this method and its precepts, math skills computation, math comprehension and word problems, applied math skills, executive functioning, organizational and study skills, writing skills, critical thinking skills, reading in the content areas, building self-esteem; support in helping students understand their strengths, weaknesses, and learning style; self-advocacy.