When will the Science of Reading become part of the curriculum, so that all children can learn to read? North Carolina will never reach the goals of Read to Achieve without addressing this at the top.
This report by the Belk Foundation is a must read!
Leading on Literacy Report
According to the report:
“Most candidates said that even though they may have taken a special education course, they really did not have practical coursework that gave them a collection of specific strategies for helping students who were having difficulty. All groups of candidates were asked specifically about what they had learned to do to teach a student who was having trouble with reading. In almost all circumstances, candidates could not articulate specific strategies or practices they would use to help such a student. Some candidates attempted to answer the question and said they would refer the student to special education or rely on a digital reading program. However, given the data that shows that many non-special education North Carolina students in the public schools have difficulties learning to read, it is concerning that candidates do not seem to have a clear repertoire of practices to use with those students. Candidates in Special Education seemed to have a better understanding of how to scaffold instruction and how to choose various interventions for struggling readers. However, the general inability of candidates, some of whom were already in student teaching, to talk knowledgeably about interventions for readers having difficulty was a troubling theme across all of the visits.”