Many Pa. colleges aren’t properly training future teachers how to teach reading, a report finds

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) released a report this week revealing that nearly half of Pennsylvania’s 23 graduate and undergraduate educator preparation programs are not properly training future teachers in the 'science of reading.' Only five programs earned A’s, while another five received F’s, placing Pennsylvania among the lowest-performing states in the analysis. The report evaluates programs based on their coverage of five core components: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness. Programs scoring poorly either failed to adequately address at least one of these components or taught debunked practices like 'three-cuing' (guessing words from context) or 'running records' assessments. Most Pennsylvania programs declined to participate, including the University of Pennsylvania, which previously ranked poorly in a 2023 NCTQ report. Despite criticism of the methodology, NCTQ director Ron Noble noted progress in states adopting structured literacy amid ongoing debates over reading instruction and declining test scores. The findings align with Pennsylvania’s recent shift toward structured literacy, a method emphasizing explicit, skills-based reading instruction. Advocates and critics have mixed reactions, but the report underscores gaps in teacher preparation as states push for evidence-based practices. NCTQ’s evaluation focused on syllabi, curricula, and lecture schedules to assess alignment with research-backed reading strategies. Programs failing to cover core components or teaching contradictory methods were penalized, reflecting broader concerns about inconsistent teacher training nationwide.