Elementary Teacher Preparation Policy
Scientifically Based Reading Instruction—Tests and Standards:
Oklahoma requires all elementary education teacher candidates to pass the Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators (CEOE) Elementary Education test. Subtest 1 of this content test amounts to a stand-alone reading test.
In its competencies for elementary licensure, Oklahoma also requires all teacher preparation programs for elementary teacher candidates to address the science of reading.
Informational Texts:
Elementary teacher candidates must be prepared for the key instructional shifts related to literacy that differentiate college- and
career-readiness standards from their predecessors. Elementary teachers in Oklahoma are required to pass the Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators (CEOE)
general elementary content test. The test's competency standards require
teachers to "apply knowledge of informational texts, development and
assessment of skills for comprehending and analyzing informational
texts, and study and research skills." This is followed by a list of
extensive examples of content that may be covered under this
competency. Although the framework addresses informational texts, it does not address how to also incorporate increasingly complex texts into instruction.
Literacy Skills:
Oklahoma's competencies for elementary
licensure require that a teacher "knows and applies strategies that
promote comprehension and strategies to support children's understanding
for the various elements of the different genres of text."
However, this competency does not ensure that teachers are fully prepared to include literacy skills across the core content areas.
Struggling Readers:
Oklahoma also has requirements for the preparation of elementary teachers that address struggling readers. Teacher preparation programs are required to provide all elementary education candidates with "quality training in intervention, instruction, and remediation strategies in order to meet the needs of students in K-3 who are determined to be at risk of reading difficulties." In addition, new legislation requires preparation in "strategies for instruction, assessment and intervention for literacy development for...struggling readers who are coping with a range of challenges, including, but not limited to, English learners and learners with handicapping conditions and learning disabilities (including dyslexia)."
Ensure that the science of reading test is meaningful.
To ensure that its science of reading test is sufficiently rigorous, Oklahoma should evaluate its passing score to make certain it reflects a high standard of performance and that all teachers are well prepared in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom.
Ensure that new elementary teachers are prepared to incorporate informational text of increasing complexity into classroom instruction.
Although
Oklahoma is on the right track with its CEOE elementary test, which
addresses knowledge of informational texts, the in-depth coverage of the
topic is presented as examples. Therefore, the extent to which this
information is required is unclear. Oklahoma is encouraged to make
certain its framework captures the major instructional shifts of
college- and career-readiness standards, thereby ensuring that all
elementary candidates have the ability to adequately incorporate complex
informational text into classroom instruction.
Ensure that new elementary teachers are prepared to 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, Oklahoma should also—either through testing frameworks or teacher standards—include literacy skills and using text to build content knowledge in history/social studies, science, technical subjects and the arts.
Oklahoma was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.
2C: Teaching Elementary Reading
Teaching children to read is the most important task teachers undertake. Over the past 60 years, scientists from many fields have worked to determine how people learn to read and why some struggle. This science of reading has led to breakthroughs that can dramatically reduce the number of children destined to become functionally illiterate or barely literate adults, identifying five components of effective instruction. In fact, most reading failure can be avoided by routinely applying the lessons learned from the scientific findings in the classroom. Estimates indicate that the current failure rate of 20 to 30 percent could be reduced to 2 to 10 percent.[1]
Scientific research has shown that there are five essential components of effective reading instruction: explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.[2] Many states' policies still do not reflect the strong research consensus in reading instruction that has emerged over the last few decades. Many teacher preparation programs resist teaching scientifically-based reading instruction. Reports by NCTQ on teacher preparation, beginning with What Education Schools Aren't Teaching about Reading and What Elementary Teachers Aren't Learning in 2006 and continuing through the Teacher Prep Review in 2016 have consistently found the overwhelming majority of teacher preparation programs across the country do not train teachers in the science of reading, although the most recent Teacher Prep Review did find signs of improvement.[3] Whether through standards or coursework requirements, states must direct programs to provide this critical training. But relying on programs alone is insufficient; states must only grant licenses to new elementary teachers who can demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills to teach children to read.
Most current reading tests do not offer assurance that teachers know the science of reading. A growing number of states, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia, require strong, stand-alone assessments entirely focused on the science of reading.[4] Other states rely on either pedagogy tests or content tests that include items on reading instruction. However, since reading instruction is addressed only in one small part of most of these tests, it is often not necessary to know the science of reading to pass.[5] States need to make sure that a teacher candidate cannot pass a test that purportedly covers reading instruction without knowing the critical material.
College- and career-readiness standards require significant shifts in literacy instruction. College- and career-readiness standards for K-12 students adopted by nearly all states require from teachers a different focus on literacy integrated into all subject areas. The standards demand that teachers are prepared to bring complex text and academic language into regular use, emphasize the use of evidence from informational and literary texts and build knowledge and vocabulary through content-rich text. While most states have not ignored teachers' need for training and professional development related to these instructional shifts, few states have attended to the parallel need to align teacher competencies and requirements for teacher preparation so that new teachers will enter the classroom ready to help students meet the expectations of these standards.[6]