NCTQ:

State education leaders across the country are rightly prioritizing efforts to improve elementary student reading outcomes. However, too often these initiatives do not focus enough on the key component to strong implementation and long-term sustainability: effective teachers. Only when state leaders implement a literacy strategy that prioritizes teacher effectiveness will states achieve a teacher workforce that can strengthen student literacy year after year. This report outlines five policy actions states can take to ensure a well-prepared teacher workforce that can implement and sustain the science of reading in classrooms across the country.

The Challenge
There are 1.3 million children who enter fourth grade each year unable to read at a basic level—that’s nearly 40% of all fourth graders across the country.1 These students may not be able to identify details from a text, sequence events from a story, and—in some cases—may not be able to read the words themselves.2 The rate of students who cannot read at a basic level by fourth grade climbs even higher for students of color, those with learning differences, and those who grow up in low-income households, perpetuating disparate life outcomes.3

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Wisconsin Recommendations:

Recommendations for Wisconsin

Teacher prep standards:

  • Create specific, detailed standards for teacher preparation programs for the five components of reading aligned with the science of reading, including what they should not teach.
  • Revise teacher prep reading standards to include the knowledge and skills teachers need to support struggling students, including students with dyslexia, in learning how to read.
  • Revise teacher prep reading standards to include the knowledge and skills teachers need to support English Learners in learning how to read.

Legislation and Reading: The Wisconsin Experience 2004-