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Western Governors University — WGU Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) — Secondary Content Programs

D806: Secondary Disciplinary Literacy

A complete guide to WGU's D806: Secondary Disciplinary Literacy — what this competency-based course covers, the performance assessment you'll submit, and where to get expert help when the task is due.

Graduate Competency-Based Course Self-Paced WGU

Secondary Disciplinary Literacy extends the discipline-specific literacy lens into the MAT secondary classroom — required across all seven MAT secondary content-area programs.

What D806 covers

The course is designed for candidates seeking to enhance their literacy skills within specific secondary academic disciplines, examining the distinct literacy needs of various secondary content areas and how reading, writing, speaking, and listening function differently in each discipline.

Candidates explore specialized language structures and text features relevant to each field and develop strategies to help students master these complexities, integrating the science of reading and incorporating technology and digital literacy. This course is a required component in SCED programs and is assessed through a performance assessment task for both undergraduate and graduate versions.

The D806 performance assessment

Expect a performance assessment requiring you to design a disciplinary-literacy lesson for your specific secondary content area, addressing that discipline's specific text demands.

Key topics in D806

Writing tips for D806

Follow the task instructions and rubric line by line

WGU performance assessments for D806 are graded against a fixed rubric — every rubric line has to be visibly addressed, usually with a labeled heading that mirrors the rubric language. Skipping a rubric point because it seems minor is the single most common reason a competent submission comes back "Not Yet Competent" for revision.

Ground every claim in a specific secondary grade level and science content

MAT Secondary Science Education courses like D806 typically ask you to apply content knowledge and pedagogy to a specific grade level and science topic rather than write about teaching in the abstract. As a post-baccalaureate candidate, connecting your prior professional background to your instructional reasoning strengthens a response further.

Because WGU is self-paced, don't let "no deadline pressure" become no submission

There's no weekly due date forcing progress, which means procrastination costs more at WGU than at a traditional term-based school — a stalled task can quietly eat weeks of a term. Treat your own target date for each D806 assessment as a real deadline.

Stuck on your D806 task?

Our writers know WGU's competency-based format and this course's performance assessment. Get an original, properly cited paper matched to your task instructions.

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Why students seek help with D806

MAT candidates sometimes apply generic reading strategies without addressing the specific text features of their own content area — the rubric typically wants strategies matched to the specific discipline, not generic ones.

How GradeEssays helps with D806

Share your content area and rubric, and your writer will build a lesson with literacy strategies genuinely matched to that discipline's specific text demands.

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Prerequisites and program context

D806 has no listed additional prerequisites.

Related courses

Frequently asked questions

How is D806 different from D805 in the undergraduate program?

D806 is the graduate (MAT, post-baccalaureate) version of the same course content that undergraduate teacher-candidates complete as D805. The content and expectations mirror each other closely — the difference is the degree pathway and candidate population, not the classroom content itself.