Professional Reading Tutor, Orton-Gillingham Certified

When my husband and I grew our family, we discovered our son had dyslexia. His reading challenges brought me to a place of exploring every avenue to help him learn more easily and confidently.  After countless conferences, courses, involvements, and committees, I decided to become certified in the Orton-Gillingham Approach. I also chose to be an educator at our local elementary school from 2012-2022. I am now tutoring full-time doing what I am passionate about - helping students read and grow their potential.

The Colorado READ Act  (The Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development) Act is a legislative priority that focuses on early literacy development for all students, especially for students at risk for not reading at grade level by the end of third grade. Based on this, Colorado school districts are required to ensure all K - 3 teachers complete a 45-hour Evidence-Based Reading Training and pass the exam.  

Martha Ranson completed the required K – 3 Teacher Evidence-Based Reading Training from the Colorado Department of Education and passed the exam. 

As a part of the Colorado READ Act, the Colorado Department of Education Advisory List of Instructional Programming has approved Orton Gillingham Instructional Approach for use in Colorado Schools. This approval by the CDE is specifically the Supplemental and Intervention level Programming Orton Gillingham - Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham Phonological & Phonemic Awareness and Phonics & Word Study Orton Gillingham- Institute for Multi-Sensory Education, LLC. 

Martha Ranson is twice certified in the Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham Reading Approach.

Orton-Gillingham (O-G) is the grandfather of multi-sensory structured language programs. It has been proven to be effective for more than 80 years. While other phonics and basal programs may impact decoding skills, O-G is structured to support spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension. Orton -Gillingham recognizes that reading and spelling are interrelated and works to connect reading, spelling, writing and oral language. 

During the first teaching session, I administer a few short assessments and will review any existing educational documentation for your child. Based on those results, the Orton Gillingham lessons can also include: phonemic or phonological processing, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. RCC is also trained in providing students with support in all components of literacy.

Formal Education

Bachelors of Science from Colorado State University 1988

Community Involvement

• Roxborough School Accountability Committee (SAC) Elected voting parent member 2008-2012

• Roxborough School Leadership Committee (RLC) Appointed parent member 2009-2012

• Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Project PEAK (Parents Engaged in the Advancement of Kids)  A highly regarded parent involvement committee  2008-2012

• Presented Project PEAK to the Colorado Department of Education’s School Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education (SACPIE) 2011

• Appointed to Colorado Department of Education’s Family School Partnering Community of Practice (FSP CoP) 2012

• Douglas County Special Education Advisory Council Planning Committee (SEAC) 2011-2012

• Certification in Orton Gillingham Reading Approach 2012

Douglas County School District, Colorado 

• Roxborough Intermediate Special Education Educational Assistant 2012-2013

• Roxborough Intermediate Instructional Assistant for Response to Intervention 2013-2021

• Awarded School Employee of the Year by Douglas County School District out of approximately 5,000 nominees. 2015

• PTO Today awarded the National Group of the Year award to Roxborough PTIC after bringing Project PEAK’s academic enrichment into their committee. 2015

• Recertification in Orton Gillingham Reading Approach 2019

• Completed the required  K–3 Teacher Evidence-Based Reading Training from the  Colorado Department of Education and passed the exam.  

"Not only is Martha a truly lovely lady, she is awe inspiring at her craft.  When we started with Martha, our daughter was in 3rd grade and reading well below grade-level.  Martha has helped us navigate the process of pyscho-eduational testing that determines if our daughter has learning disabilities. And, by 5th grade our daughter was testing above grade-level in reading and at an 8th grade vocabulary level. Martha will tell your child it is their growth but the truth is she is the one that is responsible for unlocking their potential.  Words cannot express our gratitude towards her and as long as she is a Reading Coach, she will be our Reading Coach!" 

Lisbet, mother of a 6th grade student

I cannot recommend Reading Coach Colorado more highly!  Martha has helped two of my children in various aspects throughout the years. My oldest daughter had some unique learning challenges and Martha was able to assess and take testing results to create an understanding of her reading and coaching needs. She helped her over the course of many years. My youngest daughter needed help organizing her college entrance essay and was expertly guided through the process, as well as learned valuable writing skills that she will utilize throughout her academic career.  Martha also brings a kind and a calming presence to an activity that can cause anxiety.  Clearly, she loves helping children improve their reading and writing skills."

Heather, mother of 2 daughters