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How well are we preparing pre-service teachers to teach reading?

Shelbie Wells

Longwood University

READ 650: Evaluation of Literacy Research

Dr. Snow

April 4, 2021
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Abstract

Teacher preparation programs increasingly face criticism for not adequately preparing

preservice teacher candidates to teach reading. The quality of these teacher preparation programs

is thought to vary across institutions of higher education; however, research has shown that the

most successful in-service teachers are those teachers who received instruction from a high-

quality teacher preparation program (Risko & Reid, 2018). Research suggests that one way to

create high quality teacher preparation programs is through the use of coaching (Husbye et. al,

2018) and simulation (Ferguson, 2017).

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How well are we preparing pre-service teachers to teach reading?

Teacher Preparation Programs have become a hot topic in education throughout the last

several years. These programs have become such a hot topic because of the way that pre-service

teacher candidates are being trained to teach specific subjects such as reading; because of this,

the topic has faced some controversy from numerous people and areas throughout the country.

Many people may feel as if we are not preparing these candidates enough while others may feel

like teacher educators are doing the best that they can. As a result of these disagreements, there

are many teacher candidates who feel that they are not well prepared to be a teacher of reading to

elementary students who need a solid foundation of reading instruction to be successful in life.

Agreements in the Research

Most researchers agree that teacher educators, professors who are teaching pre-service

teacher candidates, are not required to use any uniform method to prepare pre-service teacher

candidates. In fact, the quality of these teacher preparation programs varies at each institution;

however, research has shown that the most successful in-service teachers are those who have had

access to receive instruction from a high-quality teacher preparation program. In order for these

programs to be considered ‘high quality’ teacher preparation programs, there are several factors

that they must have (Risko & Reid, 2018). According to the article What Really Matters for

Literacy Teacher Preparation,

“prospective teachers benefit from programs and course work that hold high expectations

for rich and well-defined knowledge development of content and pedagogy; preparation

to teach diverse students; authentic practice that is extensive, coherent with program and

content and goals, and well mentored; engagement in self- critique and learning
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communities; and ongoing assessments of candidates and program effectiveness” (Risko

& Reid, 2018).

These programs should be well equipped to educate these pre-service teachers to be successful

in-service teachers; however, they should also be equipped to prepare these pre-service teachers

to work with students from all types of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses (DeMonte,

2016). Additionally, pre-service teachers need to be prepared in order to become literacy leaders

within their classroom and their school (Sharp et. al, 2018). As you can see from the research

stated above, those programs that provide numerous opportunities for pre-service teacher

candidates to develop the necessary skills and knowledge needed to be an effective teacher of

reading can ensure that these candidates will remain in the profession for longer than five years.

Disagreements in the Research

Among the differences discussed in the articles, none of the articles agree on a specific

method that would be best to teach these pre-service teacher candidates how to teach reading

students. In the larger scheme of things, it is argued that teacher preparation programs rely too

much on theory and not enough on providing opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates to

take those theories and put them into practice. The argument in the article Toward Better

Teacher Prep, is that “the shift in preparation now underway is to teach candidates how to teach,

with an emphasis on the activities and performances that teachers carry out in classrooms with

students” (DeMonte, 2018). It is also argued that undergraduate teacher preparation programs are

doing very little to help prepare our pre-service teachers to become literacy leaders within their

school communities. This type of literacy education is found in master’s programs that are,

generally, preparing current, in-service teachers to become literacy leaders. In order for

institutions to ensure that they are preparing pre-service teachers to be literacy leaders within a
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school community, the International Literacy Association (ILA) developed specific criteria for

institutions to follow to help prepare pre-service teachers to become literacy leaders (Sharp et. al,

2018).

It is argued that simulation is one of the best ways to teach both in-service and pre-

service teachers new methods of doing things. Simulations use a model in order to help teachers,

pre-service or in-service, learn effective methods to give assessments or teach a specific concept

in a content area. Specifically, in reading, simulations can be used to help these teachers gain

experience in scoring a literacy assessment or to help them understand what it is like learning to

read. (Ferguson, 2017).

It is also argued that coaching is another effective method in order to teach pre-service

teachers. It allows pre-service teachers to put the theories they have been learning about into

practice. The pre-service teacher has a mentor or professor serve as a coach in order to help them

improve the delivery of the instruction that they are giving. The coaching model allows pre-

service teachers to take their knowledge of best practice and start using them in a classroom

setting with real students. (Husbye et. al, 2018).

Additionally, in the article Toward Better Teacher Prep, DeMonte argues that one of the

best ways to educate pre-service teachers is through a residency model. The residency model

allows teacher preparation programs to partner with school districts in order to provide their

students with hands-on experience in the classroom working with students. Through this model,

pre-service teachers complete their courses at the partnering school and also have the opportunity

to go into the classroom during the day to observe the classroom teacher and work with students.

In the article DeMonte states, “unlike traditional education courses, most of these courses are

taught as modules designed around high-leverage teaching practices -- fundamentals of teaching

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that all new teachers should be competent in …” (2018). Since the residency program is set up in

this way, pre-service teacher candidates are able to learn the methodology behind these

practices, practice implementing them with their peers, and then, under the supervision of their

professor and partnering classroom teacher, they can go to the classroom and practice using the

methodology with an actual group of students. This model also provides pre-service teacher

candidates the opportunity to work with students from a wide variety of backgrounds,

socioeconomic statuses, and cultures (DeMonte, 2018).

Conclusions and Extensions of the Research

After reviewing this research, there is one thing that stands out as unknown. It is not

known how prepared preservice teachers felt to teach reading going into their first year as an in-

service teacher. In order to further understand the research presented above, a survey could be

conducted on teacher self-efficacy. This would help us have a better understanding of what

methods, used during their teacher preparation program, current in-service teachers feel like may

or may not have helped them become successful in-service teachers.

Methods

Research Question(s): What methods do current in-service teachers

feel helped prepare them to be an effective
teacher of literacy?
Proposed Methodology Used to Test the Qualitative- Survey Data
Question:
Participants: Current in-service teachers from a variety of
grade levels. (K-5)
Context: A survey will be given to current teachers
asking them about their undergraduate
teacher-preparation programs.
Outcome Measure: I will use the data collected from the survey
as an outcome measure. This survey will help
us understand what methods, if any, seem to
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be effective in preparing teachers to be

teachers of reading.
Hypotheses: I hypothesize that there will be very few
teachers that felt well-prepared to teach
reading going into their first year as an in-
service teacher.
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References

DeMonte, J. (2016). Toward better teacher prep. Educational Leadership, 73(8), 66–71.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may16/vol73/num08/Toward-

Better-Teacher-Prep.aspx

Ferguson, K. (2017). Using a simulation to teach reading assessment to preservice teachers. The

Reading Teacher. 70(5), 561-569. https://doi-org.proxy.longwood.edu/10.1002/trtr.1561

Husbye, N. E., Powell, C. W., Zanden, S. V. & Karalis, T. (2018). Coaching in practice-based

literacy education courses. The Reading Teacher. 72(2), 191-200. https://doi-

org.proxy.longwood.edu/10.1002/trtr.1692

Risko, V. J. & Reid, L. (2018). What really matters for literacy teacher preparation? The Reading

Teacher. 72(4), 423 - 429. https://doi-org.proxy.longwood.edu/10.1002/trtr.1769

Sharp, L., Piper, R., & Raymond, R. (2018). Are we preparing teachers for literacy leadership?

The Reading Teacher. 72(2), 223-232.