Study of Teacher Preparation in Early Reading Instruction

The study collected data from a sample of 2,237 pre-service teachers attending a nationally representative sample of 99 institutions that prepare teachers for initial certification. Pre-service teachers completed a survey with items about the emphasis within their coursework and their exposure through field experiences to the essential components of reading instruction, as defined in the Reading First legislation (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension strategies). The pre-service teachers also took an assessment of their knowledge of the essential components. The study administered the survey and assessment in the spring and summer of 2007, which represented the end of the sampled pre-service teachers' training programs. The study found that:

• Pre-service teachers rated the overall focus of their training programs on the essential components of reading as being above "little" but below "moderate,"
• Sixty-nine percent of pre-service teachers reported a moderate overall programmatic focus on the essential components of reading, 25 percent reported a strong focus, and 6 percent reported a weak focus
• On average, pre-service teachers responded correctly to 57 percent of the items on the Knowledge Assessment.

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