Thank you to IFERI committee member, Bob Sweet, for flagging up this evaluation of teacher preparation in America. Bob wrote:
This report has good news, but we still have a long ways to go. I am encouraged that more schools of education in the U.S. are focusing on K - 3 Teacher Preparation in the five components of reading instruction: systematic, direct instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension.
I would suggest that this report be widely circulated.
National Council on Teacher Quality - introduction (but click on the link above to read in full):
Introduction
Being a teacher is harder today than it has ever been. Today’s teachers must instruct the most diverse group of students in America’s history and lead them, sometimes against all odds, to graduation. Teachers welcome into their classrooms students often traumatized by violence, worried about having enough to eat, and distracted by a multitude of modern-day temptations, and yet they are able to help these students meet ever-higher standards. While the teachers today prepare approximately 180 days worth of lessons a year, they must be ever ready to improvise based on students’ comprehension levels. Elementary teachers must lead students to achievement not only in reading and math, but also in social studies, science, and literature. They must be able to make learning fun and exciting in a structured and supportive classroom environment. Even experienced teachers find this extremely challenging.
Now imagine a new teacher on her first day in the classroom. She’s eager to start her career yet nervous about what she will encounter this first day, especially as she sees the young expectant faces looking up at her. Is this new teacher equipped to meet the challenges of teaching today’s students with all of their modern complexities? Will she be ready from day one?
The answer in large part depends on the quality of the teacher’s preparation program.
NCTQ’s 2016 Landscape in Teacher Preparation examines 875 traditional undergraduate programs that prepare elementary school teachers again finds widely variable levels of quality.
Some programs prepare teachers whom parents would love to see in front of their child’s classroom. Too many others graduate teachers who still need substantial assistance and experience before they are truly ready for the position they now are authorized to fill. Since 2014, programs have made gains in a few key areas, but still have far to go in others.
One of the purposes of this report is to help teacher preparation programs identify which aspects of their programs need revision to enhance their selection and preparation of the next generation of teachers. In addition, states can use these findings to evaluate how they oversee teacher prep programs and to determine how they can help these programs improve. School districts can use the results of this report as a catalog of where to recruit both student teachers and new teachers and as a basis for talking with programs about what needs to be included in their training. High school students planning on becoming teachers and their guidance counselors may also find this report helpful in identifying the best college choices.
In the 'Introduction' the report has this to say about 'reading':
Compared to our previous release in 2014, programs showed positive signs of growth, especially with regard to teaching reading; for example, more programs now include all five research-proven elements of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The percentage of programs that require each element individually also has increased.
When you click on the word reading, this takes you to a page of the KEY FINDINGS (do click on the link in the actual report for the full picture):
A Closer Look at Early Reading Undergraduate Elementary Programs
KEY FINDINGS: Two in five (39 percent) of the 820 undergraduate elementary programs evaluated provide instruction in all five essential components of early reading instruction. At the other end, a much smaller number, 19 percent of programs, require literacy coursework that addresses no more than one of the five essential components. Programs show marked improvement on this standard—228 programs improved their instruction in early reading between 2014 and 2016, and a higher proportion of programs provide instruction in each component of early reading.
Why teacher prep programs should have strong early reading programs
Teaching children how to read is “job one” for elementary teachers because reading proficiency underpins all later learning. Unfortunately, some 30 percent of all children do not become capable readers.1 Using the knowledge gained from decades of research, effective reading instruction could cut this unacceptable rate of failure by two-thirds or even more. To earn an A on this standard, programs must adequately address all of the five essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension) through a combination of lectures; textbooks; and course assignments, tests, or teaching practice.
For more information about analysis and program grades, see the Methodology in brief and Understanding program grades sections below.
How many programs teach elementary teacher candidates about the five key components of early reading instruction?
