Fort Lewis College’s undergraduate teaching program was recognized last week as one of the best in the nation in preparing future elementary school teachers to teach children to read.
The program received an A+ distinction from the National Council on Teacher Quality in the council’s recently released news report, “Teacher Prep Review: Strengthening Elementary Reading Instruction.”
The NCTQ has recognized FLC’s teaching program as one of 48 nationwide and five in Colorado that go above and beyond the requirements set by literacy experts for effective reading instruction strategies.
To earn an A+ distinction, programs needed to comfortably exceed NCTQ’s targets for coverage of the five core components of scientifically based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
National data compiled by the NCTQ shows that more than one-third of fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level.
“The Fort Lewis College program serves as a proof point,” said Heather Peske, NCTQ president in a news release. “Other teacher preparation leaders and faculty across the country must take note. There are programs that are doing this right, ensuring that their elementary teacher candidates get the preparation in how to teach reading that they both want and deserve.”
Over the course of two years, NCTQ developed a new analysis of teacher preparation programs to see how they were covering the science of reading. This involved collaboration with literacy experts, researchers, teacher preparation leaders and educators. It evaluated 693 traditional undergraduate and graduate programs nationwide, including 15 in Colorado.
The new NCTQ analysis of teacher preparation programs’ coverage of the science of reading was developed over the course of two years, involving teams of literacy experts, researchers, teacher preparation leaders and educators. NCTQ evaluated 693 traditional undergraduate and graduate programs across the country, including 15 in Colorado.
Overall, just 23% of programs earned an A or A+ grade (112 programs earned an A and 48 earned an A+).
“Our literacy course sequence is designed to provide students with strong foundational knowledge of language and literacy. The focus on reading begins with a linguistic overview and a developmental perspective grounded in early language and literacy concepts,” said FLC Dean of the School of Education Jenni Trujillo in NCTQ’s report.
Trujillo has been heavily involved in trying to build a teacher workforce pipeline for Southwest Colorado. Last year, she collaborated with Durango School District 9-R Superintendent Karen Cheser (and other district staff members) to launch a teacher training program at Durango High School.
The class is a precursor to what students may learn if they decided to pursue education as a degree in college and to see whether they are interested in the field. It offered concurrent enrollment to give high school students college credit before graduating.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
