Giving Compass' Take:

• A new report highlighted by Mikhail Zinshteyn at the 74 finds that a majority of teacher prep programs are thoroughly instructing future educators on the science of reading. 

• How can philanthropy support schools and their teacher training programs? How does low teacher pay factor into this problem? 

• Learn about the benefits of increasing teacher training. 

For the first time, a majority of traditional programs educating future elementary school teachers thoroughly cover the science of reading, according to a new report from a watchdog of the nation’s teacher preparation programs.

The National Council on Teacher Quality, which has in the past butted heads with teacher groups, reviewed the reading coursework and practice opportunities of 1,000 elementary school teaching programs across a wide range of programs. Based on curriculum spanning from the undergraduate level to alternative providers, NCTQ developed an assessment of where the nation’s teacher preparation sector stands on educating future classroom leaders on how children learn to read.

More than a third of fourth graders are considered below-basic on the country’s gold standard for reading assessment. NCTQ argues that those woes could be reduced if more teachers knew how to improve the reading abilities of students. The report comes on the heels of a recent survey of reading specialists that found 60 percent say teacher preparation programs are not providing “effective reading instruction.”

For the first time in NCTQ’s ratings, more than half — 51 percent — of the traditional programs evaluated received a letter grade of an A or B, meaning that at least four of the five main components of reading science are thoroughly taught to candidates studying to become teachers. In 2013, only 35 percent of programs received such letter grades; most programs that year received a D or F, meaning two or fewer of the five components were taught.

Read the full article about teacher programs by Mikhail Zinshteyn at The 74.