California's Performance
Strong
Why does this matter?
Standards, whether established by state boards or state education agencies, are one of the best opportunities for states to provide direction to teacher prep programs on exactly what aspiring teachers should learn and be able to do when it comes to teaching scientifically based reading instruction. Without explicit standards, states cannot hold programs accountable. State standards should not only include descriptions of the five core components of reading (phonemic awareness and phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) but also provide specific details about what teachers should know and be able to teach for each of the core components aligned to the research. Standards should also identify the knowledge and skills teachers need to support English Learners and struggling readers, including students with dyslexia, in learning how to read.
Why does California stand out?
California sets specific, detailed standards for teacher prep programs aligned to the science of reading. These standards include how to teach English Learners and struggling readers, including those with dyslexia.
California’s new literacy standards for multiple subject programs (the state’s general elementary certification) specifies that coursework and field experiences should include attention to struggling readers and English Learners, and provides specific skills to support these students (e.g., for struggling readers, screening students for potential learning disabilities including dyslexia; for English Learners, basing foundational skills instruction on their previous literacy experiences in their home language, helping them use English to access academic content across all subjects, and developing oral language proficiency).
What are the key actions California
should take?
Key Resources
Teacher Prep Review: Reading Foundations
Learn more about how over 700 elementary teacher preparation programs are preparing educators to teach reading.
State Reading Policy Action Guide
Discover how states can implement and sustain strong reading instruction.
References
- Also known as the structure/meaning/visual system (SMV), three-cueing describes the support for early word recognition that “[relies] on a combination of of semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues simultaneously to formulate an intelligent hypothesis about a word’s identity.” Petscher, Y., Cabell, S. Q., Catts, H. W., Compton, D. L., Foorman, B. R., Hart, S. A., … Wagner, R. K. (2020). How the science of reading informs 21st century education. Reading Research Quarterly, 55, S267-S282.
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U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Table 204.20. English learner (EL) students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, fall 2000 through fall 2021. Digest of Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.20.asp
- U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Table 204.20. English learner (EL) students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, fall 2000 through fall 2019. Digest of Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_204.20.asp
- Data on prep programs’ coverage of how to teach ELs to read is drawn from: Ellis, C., Holston, S., Drake, G., Putman, H., Swisher, A., & Peske, H. (2023). Teacher Prep Review: Strengthening elementary reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Council on Teacher Quality.