October 22, 2018
EDCAL 7
Report finds only 11 states have adequate safeguards in place
for both elementary and special education teachers
More than two decades after the National
Institutes of Health declared the high rate
of reading failure among Americans to
be “a public health crisis” and more than
two decades after scientific consensus was
achieved on the specific teaching methods
needed to produce the highest numbers of
successful readers, many states fail to main-
tain the necessary requirements regarding
elementary and special education teachers’
knowledge of reading instruction.
In an NCTQ databurst: Strengthening
Reading Instruction Through Better
Preparation of Elementary and Special
Education Teachers that reviews the cur-
rent status of states’ requirements governing
teachers’ reading knowledge, 40 states still
either do not have sufficient licensing tests
in place for both of these groups of teach-
ers, or have no test at all. A handful of states
have adequate tests in place for elementary
teacher candidates, but not special educa-
tion teacher candidates, a perplexing stance
given that 80 percent of all students are
assigned to special education because of
their struggle to read. The report can be
downloaded at http://bit.ly/downloadNC- TQreport.
Besides California, the states that have
adopted adequate tests of teachers’ reading
knowledge for both elementary and special
education teacher candidates are Arkansas,
Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Virginia and Wisconsin.
“The failure of such a high percentage of
our children to learn how to read is tragi-
cally unnecessary,” said Kate Walsh, NCTQ
president. “We’ve known for decades what
needs to change. Educational trends and
priorities ebb and flow. Our responsibility
to children should not.”
Although many states maintain teacher
preparation program standards that require
the science of reading to be part of the
elementary and special education teach-
er curricula, standards alone have proven
insufficient to ensure that these teachers
are prepared to teach the science of read-
ing, generally because they are hard to
enforce. NCTQ’s review of program prac-
tice in all states reveals that a majority of
teacher preparation programs do not meet
those standards. While there has been some improvement among programs in the past
few years, still only 37 percent of elementary
and special education programs can provide
evidence that they teach scientifically-based
reading methods to their teacher candidates.
“If states want to use standards as their
primary mechanism for delivering well-
prepared teachers, they have to be prepared
to also provide constant monitoring and
enforcement. Few states have shown them-
selves to be so inclined,” Walsh said. “The
most efficient means available to states are
strong tests backed up by annual reviews of
how successful programs are preparing their
candidates to pass this test.”
The National Institutes of Health spent
40 years examining best practices for how
children and adults learn to read. These
findings were recently updated and affirmed
by the Institute of Education Sciences, the
research arm of the U.S. Department of
Education. The research concluded that if
teachers and schools properly implemented
instructional practices regarding scientif-
ically-based methods of literacy, then all
but a small percent of students could learn
to read. To help provide all students with the
support they need to become competent
and confident readers, NCTQ recommends
the following:
• All states should require elementary
and special education teacher candidates to
pass a rigorous test in reading knowledge
that is aligned with the scientific findings
about how to produce the highest numbers
of successful readers.
• When states adopt an assessment serv-
ing multiple purposes – that is, one that
tests knowledge of other subjects along-
side reading knowledge, it must report a
separate subscore on a candidate’s reading
knowledge.
• States should increase transparency
by reviewing their teacher preparation pro-
grams and making information reflecting
programs’ success in preparing candidates
available to the public.
NUGENT work with, I am most inspired by my stu-
dents who are teenage parents because I do
not have any biological children of my own,
and I cannot imagine being responsible for
another life while trying to earn my high
school diploma.”
Nugent said he is proud to have been
recognized as ACSA’s 2018 Education
Options/Continuation Administrator of
the Year. In addition, his school was named
a 2018 Capturing Kid’s Hearts National
Showcase School. A multi-faceted per-
son, Nugent even ran the 2016 California
International Marathon, conquered child-
hood obesity and wrote a book, “Overcoming
Obesity: Uncovering the Roadmap to Your
Sweetest Victory.”
He looks forward to the day he com-
pletes his Ed.D. in Transformational
Leadership, and eventually finds a position
as the superintendent of a school system, as
the president of a college or university, or
even serve the state of California or United
States of America as an elected official or
executive cabinet member appointee. He
truly is a man of high aspirations.
Nugent has made the most of his ACSA
membership, serving in several different
capacities from the charter level to the state
level, and each step of the way the network-
ing and professional development opportu-
nities have continually served as the bedrock
of his experience.
“ACSA has afforded me great personal
relationships with many new friends and
colleagues, and has supported me tremen-
dously with the on-demand knowledge and
resources necessary to effectively execute
my job through conferences, committee/
council participation, and other online and
printed materials,” Nugent said. “In addi-
tion, ACSA’s proactive leadership on con-
troversial educational issues has helped me
remain informed on how to successfully
advocate for the causes that are in the best
interest of my students and staff.”
Nugent is looking forward to Leadership Summit, as he said the theme of
“Empowering Innovative Leadership” fits
in well with his educational philosophy.
“I have worked to empower innovative
leadership and redefine what’s possible by
implementing the Big Picture Learning
Model and transforming my campus from
an independent study school where stu-
dents come for one hour per week to a
hybrid campus where students now have a
five-day per week academic experience,” he
said. “Students attend school three full days per week for direct instruction, then they
participate in real world learning through
internships on the other two days where
they receive academic credit for non-class-
room instruction that occurs off campus
and is aligned to their specific interests and
passions.
“Following the vision of our superinten-
dent, our school is living proof of innova-
tive leadership that has been empowered to
‘educate and serve the entire family as we
transforming lives one scholar at a time.’”
Continued from page 1
me to enter administration due to a leader-
ship vacancy that emerged on my campus,”
Nugent said. “As a result, my superintendent
appointed me to my first administrative
assignment because of all the work that I
was already doing on my campus, to main-
tain continuity for the site and because she
saw something special in me.
“Since then, as I have grown in my lead-
ership and as my vision for serving students,
their families, and the surrounding commu-
nity has expanded. I can confidently say that
I am a school administrator because I have
embraced the charge given by Rita Pearson
to be a champion for the at-promise, under-
privileged, and vulnerable learners that are
among us.”
But Nugent is no reluctant convert to
school leadership. He is inspired by the
opportunity to be an agent of change who
works to transform an entire community
through education and by providing rele-
vant support services that empower families
to create, cultivate and conquer their goals
and dreams.
“I am inspired by the fact that I get to
work with students who were unsuccessful
in the traditional education system to help
them unlock the greatness that lies within
them by loving and empowering them
to restore hope in a positive and limitless
future for themselves in spite of their life
circumstances,” he said. “Oftentimes, my
students come from volatile single par-
ent or foster homes that have ill-equipped
them with the necessary social or emotional
skills to effectively self-advocate, cope with
conflict, self-manage in a group setting,
or otherwise control their impulses and
desire for instant gratification. As a result,
I am inspired to work with these students
because they have the most needs.
“However, of all the populations that I
BLUE RIBBON
Continued from page 1
sured by state assessments or national tests.
Public schools are nominated by top
education officials in each state, the
Department of Defense Education Activity,
and the Bureau of Indian Education. More
information about the National Blue
Ribbon Schools Program can be found on
the U.S. Department of Education website
at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/
index.html.
The schools honored are:
•
Fremont USD - John Gomes
Elementary School, William Hopkins
Junior High School.
• Placentia-Yorba Linda USD - Golden
Elementary School.
• Riverside USD - Riverside STEM
Academy.
• Del Mar Union ESD - San Diego
Jewish Academy Lower School.
• San Dieguito Union HSD - Carmel
Valley Middle School.
• San Luis Coastal USD - Teach
Elementary School.
• Redwood City ESD - North Star
Academy.
• Cupertino Union SD - Joaquin Miller
Middle School, Sam H. Lawson Middle
School.
• Saratoga Union ESD - Argonaut
Elementary School, Redwood Middle
School.
More information on the National Center
for Teacher Quality can be found at https://
www.nctq.org.
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