While all students deserve to have access to evidence-based instruction, all teachers coming out of teacher’s colleges deserve to be equipped with the understanding and knowledge of the Science of Reading and practice in teaching a child to read. In June 2023, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) issued a comprehensive review of how well schools of education prepare our nation’s educators to teach children how to read. NCTQ Executive Summary.
Only 25% of programs adequately cover the five core components identified by the National Reading Panel, with phonemic awareness receiving the least attention, despite its crucial role in reading and spelling development (McCardle & Chhabra, 2004).
Nearly one-third of programs do not offer any practice opportunities connected to the National Reading Panel’s core components.
40% of programs are still teaching strategies that have been debunked by the scientific community (e.g., the three-cueing).
58% of programs do not dedicate at least two hours to the topic of teaching struggling readers, including students with dyslexia, and 81% of programs do not require any opportunities to practice.
A lack of knowledge about how children learn to read and write and how to identify and teach the many who struggle leaves many teachers unprepared. While high-quality, evidence-based curriculum matters, we will continue to fail vulnerable students, including students with disabilities such as dyslexia, students living in poverty, students of color, and students learning English as a second language, until we address teacher training.