Elementary Teacher Preparation Policy
Content Test Requirements: Michigan offers an early childhood specialization that authorizes the holder to teach grades PreK-3. This specialization is added to either a valid elementary or secondary certificate. Candidates are required to pass the Michigan Test for Teaching Certification (MTTC) Early Childhood Education test. Candidates who add the early childhood specialization to an elementary license will have taken the same content tests required of elementary candidates. However, teachers who have added the specialization to a secondary certificate will not have the necessary content knowledge to teach at the elementary level.
(See Goal 2-C: Elementary Reading for a discussion on the state's elementary college- and career-readiness requirements.)
Scientifically Based Reading Instruction: The MTTC Early Childhood Education test addresses some of the components of scientifically based reading instruction; however, it does not contain a separately scored test, and therefore does not count as a stand-alone reading test.
Informational Texts: The MTTC Early Childhood Education test does not address informational texts.
Literacy Skills: The MTTC Early Childhood Education test does not address the incorporation of literacy skills across core content areas.
Struggling Readers: The MTTC Early Childhood Education test does not address the needs of struggling readers.
Require early childhood teacher candidates to pass a subject-matter test designed to ensure sufficient content knowledge of all subjects.
Michigan should require all early childhood teacher candidates who teach the elementary grades to pass a content test with separate passing scores for each of the core subject areas, including reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Although the state requires appropriate testing for elementary teachers teaching on an elementary certificate, Michigan creates a significant loophole by not holding early childhood teachers who teach elementary grades to the same requirements. The state's current practice of allowing teachers up through grade 3 to teach without ever having passed a content test is particularly worrisome and should be amended.
Require all teacher candidates who teach elementary grades to pass a rigorous assessment in the science of reading instruction.
Michigan should require a rigorous reading assessment tool to ensure that its early childhood candidates are adequately prepared in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom. The assessment should clearly test knowledge and skills related to the science of reading and address all five instructional components of scientifically based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. If the test is combined with an assessment that also tests general pedagogy or elementary content, it should report a subscore for the science of reading specifically. Early childhood teachers who do not possess the minimum knowledge in this area should not be eligible for licensure.
Ensure that early childhood teachers are prepared to meet the instructional requirements of college- and career-readiness standards for students.
Incorporate informational text of increasing complexity into classroom instruction.
Michigan's early childhood test does not adequately capture all the major instructional shifts of college- and career-readiness standards. Michigan is therefore encouraged to strengthen its teacher preparation requirements and ensure that all candidates who teach the elementary grades have the ability to address the use of informational texts as well as to incorporate complex informational texts into classroom instruction.
Incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject.
To ensure that elementary students are capable of accessing varied information about the world around them, Michigan should also—either through testing frameworks or teacher standards—include literacy skills and use text to build content knowledge in history/social studies, science, technical subjects, and the arts.
Support struggling readers.
Michigan should articulate more specific requirements ensuring that all candidates who teach elementary grades are prepared to intervene and support students who are struggling. The early elementary grades are an especially important time to address reading deficiencies before students fall behind.
Michigan recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state then referenced its response to Goal 2-C,
in particular to the proposed revision to Michigan's teaching certificate
structure. A PreK-3 grade band is proposed, with a heavy emphasis on early
literacy and mathematics instruction and encompassing the draft standards
linked in the prior response. It is not anticipated that the current Early
Childhood Education (General and Special Education) (ZS) endorsement will
disappear, but its current authorization to provide instruction in an early
childhood special education setting will be of paramount importance.
2D: Elementary Licensure Deficiencies
Early childhood teachers who teach elementary grades must be ready for the demands of the elementary classroom. Many states have early childhood licenses that include some elementary classroom grades, usually up to grade three.[1] Because teachers with this early childhood license can still teach many elementary grades, they should not be held to a lower bar for subject-matter knowledge than if they held more standard elementary licenses. Given the focus on building students' content knowledge and vocabulary in college- and career-readiness standards,[2] states would put students at risk by not holding all elementary teachers to equivalent standards.[3] That is not to say the license requirements must be identical; there are certainly different focuses in terms of child development and pedagogy. But the idea that content knowledge is only needed by upper-grade elementary teachers is clearly false.
Focus on reading instruction is especially critical for early childhood teachers. Although some states do not ensure that any elementary teachers know the science of how to teach young children to read, in the states where this is a priority, it is inexcusable to hold elementary teachers on an early childhood license to a lower standard. Research is clear that the best defense against reading failure is effective early reading instruction.[4] Therefore, if such licenses are neglecting to meet the needs of the early elementary classroom, of which learning to read is paramount, they are failing to meet one of their most fundamental purposes.