The graduate and undergraduate Elementary Teacher Education programs at The Ohio State University have earned A+ grades from the National Council on Teacher Quality for how well they prepare future teachers to teach reading to elementary students.
These two programs of Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology are:
- Bachelor of Science in Education in Primary Education (P-5): A+ (View grade page)
- Master of Education in Primary Education (P-5): A+ (View grade page)
The report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, published on June 9, spotlights The Ohio State University for meeting the standards set by literacy experts for coverage of the most effective methods of reading instruction.
Specifically, this means the programs are preparing aspiring teachers in all five components of scientifically based reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. The programs also avoid many instructional practices that research has shown to be ineffective or counterproductive for teaching children to read.
A child’s ability to read proficiently in the early grades shapes everything that comes next in school and in life. Yet according to NAEP data, four in 10 fourth graders in Ohio cannot read at a basic level.
Teacher preparation is one of the most direct levers available to change that — but only if it is aligned to the research-based instructional methods that have been proven to help most students become successful readers.
The Ohio State University is part of a growing group of teacher preparation programs nationwide helping transform how future teachers are trained to teach reading.
“We are grateful that the National Council on Teacher Quality has recognized our faculty and staff for their excellence in preparing our undergraduate and master’s degree preservice students to become highly effective primary education teachers of reading,” said Erik Porfeli, interim dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology.
“Our preservice teachers are prepared to employ best practices in teaching their future students how to read and develop a love for reading based on research showing what works.”
“We are pleased that our graduates will transition into a teaching career, knowing that they are well prepared to support children in their classrooms to become competent readers and knowing that their degree program now has the top endorsement of NCTQ.”
In addition to the college’s primary education programs for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the college offers a dual licensure program: Bachelor of Education in Primary Education with Visual Impairment license. In this program, future teachers learn reseach-based methods for teaching reading to youth experiencing low vision or blindness. These methods include using Braille.
“Every child deserves a teacher who has been well prepared to teach reading, and every teacher deserves the opportunity to enter the classroom ready to help students succeed,” said National Council President Heather Peske.
“Across the country, many teacher preparation programs still do not fully align with the science of reading, but Ohio State University is demonstrating what strong preparation can look like.”
Binaya Subedi, the interim chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning where these programs reside, affirmed the college’s emphasis on research-based practices. “We are very committed to the growth and the quality of our teacher preparation program that serves the state of Ohio and the nation,” he said. “The recognition demonstrates the contributions we continue to make in the area of reading. Our graduates are highly sought after because of their teacher preparation at Ohio State.”
Note that this review was based on syllabi only, which provide outlines of course topics, readings and assignments. The National Council did not have access to addition course content and materials, which provide further coverage of the literacy topics that they rated.
The college’s research informs educator preparation
“I and many Ohio State colleagues have active research programs centered on best practices for teaching reading and writing,” said Shayne Piasta, professor of Literacies, Literature and Learning and director of the Early Literacy and Learning Lab.
“We have developed and tested various curricula, interventions and instructional strategies in ways that allow us to identify effective, evidence-based practices, as defined by the U.S. What Works Clearinghouse."
A few examples of that research in best practices for teaching early literacy follow.
Laura Justice, professor of educational psychology and director of the college's Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, led the multi-university Language and Reading Research Consortium, which researched Tier 1 elementary comprehension curricula.
Piasta led a study of curricula for Tier 2 students with severe disabilities to improve their early literacy outcomes. Both professors have researched the benefits of emergent literacy curricula/interventions such as BrightStart! (Piasta) and Read It Again! (Justice).
Professor Emeritus Ian Wilkinson conducted research on how discussion improves literacy, and Tzu-Jung Lin, professor of educational psychology, is examining how collaborative reasoning in small groups improves elementary school students' reading and writing achievement.
Jerry D'Agostino, professor of quantitative research, and Emily Rodgers, professor of reading and literacy in early and middle childhood education, are researching and refining a literacy intervention for 6- to 9-year-olds having great difficulty with beginning reading.
They also developed and tested an assessment of oral reading that provides a standard way of evaluating strategies that elementary students use to decode unknown words.
Matthew Brock and Moira Konrad, professor and associate professor of special education, respectively, each led studies of the effectiveness of two commercially available reading and writing curricula/interventions for students with disabilities.
Rebecca Dore, research director of the Crane Center, studies how technology and media impact early language and literacy learning. Terri Hessler, associate professor of special education, leads the implementation of dyslexia screening.
“As this research continues to evolve," Piasta said, "we are committed to updating and improving our coursework to best support our preservice teachers.”
Methodology of the National Council report
The National Council’s methodology is informed by a panel of reading experts, teacher preparation faculty, reading advocates and measurement experts. To evaluate the quality of preparation provided, a team of experts analyzed syllabi, which include lecture schedules and topics, background reading materials, class assessments, assignments and opportunities to practice instruction in required literacy courses for elementary teacher candidates at Ohio State.
To earn an “A,” programs needed to demonstrate that coursework includes all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction and must avoid teaching more than three instructional methods that are unsupported by the research on effective reading instruction.
To earn an A+, programs needed to exceed those targets and not teach any instructional practices that are unsupported by research.
See the National Council’s report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, for more about Ohio State’s coverage of the science of reading and to see how it compares to other programs in Ohio or across the country.
