IRA Ranks Teacher Prep

Teachers whose preparation courses featured quality reading instruction typically provide their students with a “richer literacy experience” an teachers who attended an institution that did not stress reading, according to a new study issued by the International Reading Association (IRA).

The IRA’s National Commission on Excellence in Elementary Teacher Preparation for Reading Instruction, a three year study of excellence in four-year undergraduate teacher preparation programs in the United States, identified features of excellence at eight sites: Florida International University, in Miami; Hunter College, New York City; Indiana University, Bloomington and Indianapolis; Norfolk State University, Virginia; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Texas, Austin; University of Texas, San Antonio; and the University of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Several of the features of excellence defined by the study include:

1. Mission: programs based on clearly articulated institutional missions.

2. Vision: faculty has a clear vision of how the mission is instituted.

3. Personalized Teaching: faculty and school personnel model the student centered learning they expect their students to use in teaching children.

4. Apprenticeship: carefully supervised apprenticeship experiences.

5. Content: based upon current research and professional standards, programs deliver broad-based content to best meet the needs of diverse students.

6. Standards: a discriminating admissions /entry/exit continuum of procedures for maintaining standards and academic accountability, both supportive of diverse candidates and aimed at producing quality reading teachers.#

For more information visit the IRA at www.reading.org or contact Richard H. Johnson at rhjohnson@reading.org.

Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2001.