Central earns national recognition for elementary education programs

The graduate and undergraduate elementary teacher preparation programs at Central have earned A grades from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) for how well they prepare future teachers to teach reading to elementary students.

• Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with Certification: A+ (View grade page) 
• Elementary Education M.S.: A+ (View grade page) 

The report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, published on June 9, spotlights Central Connecticut State University for meeting the standards set by literacy experts for coverage of the most effective methods of reading instruction. 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, and avoids 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 ten fourth-graders in Connecticut 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.
Central is part of a growing group of teacher preparation programs nationwide helping transform how future teachers are trained to teach reading.

Dr. Barbara Clark, program coordinator for Central’s Elementary Education program, credited the high ranking to the program’s rigorous design.

“Our professional program prepares students to be highly competitive,” Clark says. “They complete over 100 hours of fieldwork in urban and suburban districts before student teaching, gaining endless real-world applications of teaching strategies and classroom management. Because our model is cohort-based, students collaborate and support one another like a family, which directly contributes to their overall success.”

NCTQ’s methodology is informed by a panel of reading experts, teacher preparation faculty, reading advocates, and measurement experts. To evaluate the quality of preparation being provided, a team of experts at NCTQ analyzed syllabi, including lecture schedules and topics, background reading materials, class assessments, assignments, and opportunities to practice instruction in required literacy courses for elementary teacher candidates at Central. 

To earn an “A,” programs must demonstrate that coursework for future elementary teachers includes all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction and avoid teaching more than three instructional methods that are unsupported by the research on effective reading instruction. To earn an A+, programs need to exceed those targets and not teach any instructional practices that are unsupported by research.

“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 NCTQ President Heather Peske. “Across the country, many teacher preparation programs still do not fully align with the science of reading, but Central Connecticut State University is demonstrating what strong preparation can look like.”

See NCTQ’s report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, for more information about Central Connecticut State University’s coverage of the science of reading and to see how Central Connecticut State University compares to other programs in Connecticut or across the country.