State Teacher Policy Database Homepage › Colorado › Policy Priority: Elementary Reading

Licensure Tests

Learn more about how Colorado is performing on Licensure Tests in the Elementary Reading policy area.
Go to a policy lever Licensure Tests High-Quality Instructional Materials Preparation Program Approval Professional Learning Teacher Preparation Standards
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Colorado's Performance

Moderate
NCTQ evaluates whether states effectively use this policy lever by examining whether candidates are required to pass a reading licensure test, if they require the use of an acceptable reading test for elementary teacher candidates, and whether they publish relevant pass rate data. Explore the key actions below to learn more about how Colorado is implementing Licensure Test policies to improve Elementary Reading.

Why does this matter?

Licensure tests provide a scalable and reliable measure that, with other evidence, can determine whether teachers are well prepared in the science of reading. While this is an area ripe for further research, the available evidence suggests that various measures of teachers’ knowledge of scientifically based reading instruction correlate with their students’ reading achievement gains.1 States with strong licensure tests can use results as indicators of programs’ strengths or shortcomings. The tests can also help verify that people who earn a teaching license truly do understand the science of reading.

What are the key actions Colorado
should take?

    • See what these exemplars are doing in this policy area:

    Michigan
    Utah
    Texas

    Key Resources

    State of the States 2024: Elementary Reading

    Explore five policy actions states can take to strengthen implementation of the science of reading.

    Explore resource

    State Reading Policy Action Guide

    Discover how states can implement and sustain strong reading instruction.

    Explore resource

    Teacher Prep Review: Reading Foundations

    Learn more about how over 700 elementary teacher preparation programs are preparing educators to teach reading.

    Explore resource

    More than just words: 7 Approaches to monitoring the implementation of reading laws

    Dive into how states are turning policy into practice.

    Explore resource
    References
    1. Spear-Swerling, L., & Zibulsky, J. (2014). Making time for literacy: Teacher knowledge and time allocation in instructional planning. Reading and Writing, 27(8), 1353-1378; Moats, L. C., & Foorman, B. R. (2003). Measuring teachers’ content knowledge of language and reading. Annals of Dyslexia, 53(1), 23-45; Hudson, A. K., Moore, K. A., Han, B., Wee Koh, P., Binks-Cantrell, E., & Malatesha Joshi, R. (2021). Elementary teachers’ knowledge of foundational literacy skills: A critical piece of the puzzle in the science of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S287-S315; Piasta, S. B., Connor, C. M., Fishman, B. J., & Morrison, F. J. (2009). Teachers’ knowledge of literacy concepts, classroom practices, and student reading growth. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13(3), 224-248.