𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 EQUATES TO 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬?

I snapped this photo last week while visiting Sanibel Island and Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. The damage remains after Hurricane Ian's horrific blast to these barrier islands last September. 

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬?

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ Qᴜᴀʟɪꜰɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴇᴅᴜᴄᴀᴛᴏʀꜱ ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴜᴅᴇɴᴛꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ ʀᴏᴏᴍꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟꜱ?

Dr. Louisa Moats writes this compelling article: 

Why Have Teachers Been Left Unprepared to Teach Reading?
(ReadingRockets.org)

MCCOOL'S QUOTE PICKS:

📣"Meaningful professional standards are absent (from teaching).

📣Other complex and demanding professions insist on much more rigorous training and preparation than that required of teachers.

📣Pilots, engineers, optometrists, and art therapists, for example, must learn concepts, facts, and skills to a prescribed level, conduct their practice under supervision, and pass rigorous entry examinations standardized across the profession.

📣No such rules or standards assure that teachers who instruct children in reading have mastered the relevant knowledge base and acquired the necessary skills. 

📣Even within large universities that prepare hundreds of teachers yearly, there may be no curricular specifications or standards. 

📣What a teacher candidate learns depends on the professor they select. 
📣What the professor teaches is determined solely by what the professor may know or believe. 

📣Courses in reading, typically limited to three credit hours, are often taught by adjunct faculty accountable to no one. 

📣Thus, preparation for teaching reading often is more grounded in ideology than evidence.

📣Good information is hard to get

📣Few of today's popular textbooks for teacher preparation in reading contain information about the relationships between linguistic awareness, word recognition ability, and reading comprehension.

📣Few discuss in detail how the English writing system represents speech. 

📣Basic concepts such as the differences between speech sounds and spellings, the fact that every syllable in English is organized around a vowel sound,...

📣Few texts contain accurate information about the role of phonology in reading development, and few explain with depth, accuracy, or clarity why many children have trouble learning to read or what to do about it.

📣Only recently has basic research allowed the community of reading scientists and educators to agree.