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There have been many calls for improvement in the performance of our nation’s K-12 schools. Very recently, the highly respected National Council on Teacher Quality released a report regarding the preparation in what research shows is the most effective reading instruction.
The report revealed that very few schools of education are achieving A’s in preparing our educators to teach reading. The report is a clarion call to improve the way our dedicated educators are prepared and supported in their commitment to teach our children to read and, ultimately, to ensure that students are at or above grade-level reading competency. To Marian University’s credit, our Klipsch Educators College earned an A+ rating in this report.
Without question, teachers deserve training in the science of reading. To achieve this, universities, administrators, parents and community leaders must support this effort. Why? Students who do not learn to read at level are set on a trajectory for many difficulties that certainly include lower educational attainment but also poverty, disillusionment and often even worse outcomes. Conversely, competent readers and highly literate students and adults are set up to be learners for life, ready to succeed in the ever-changing world, successfully participate in our democracy and enjoy a good life.
Unfortunately, in the fall of 2022, the National Assessment of Educational Progress provided a national report card that showed only one-third of our nation’s fourth graders read at a proficient level. In Indiana, the critical third grade scores of our Hoosier students show that nearly 1 in 5 is not even at basic reading level. These results portend a high level of wasted potential in our precious Hoosier children and a good deal of pain for society and all concerned about Indiana’s future. We must concentrate our efforts to bring instruction based on what research shows is effective to the educational process with greater fidelity than ever.
There is plenty of evidence that 90% to 95% of all children can learn to read at-or above-level if they are provided with effective instruction and properly implemented in our schools and community programs. While there are many critical issues influencing the educational attainment of our children (the recruitment of talented and diverse educators, support for schools dealing with out-of-school influences, making the profession more attractive and gaining stronger support from parents and community leaders), we must provide aspiring teachers with the knowledge and experiences their future students deserve and an appreciation for creating and sustaining a highly literate state. As president of Marian University, I am immensely proud of the Klipsch Educators College along with our Center for Vibrant Schools for serving professional educators throughout the state and beyond as leaders in the sound methods of teaching reading.
It is now time for leaders from all sectors in the state of Indiana to support this focus on teaching reading and to bring resources to our educators around the science of reading that is needed to achieve this most critical priority in educational attainment. Our children’s future and the quality of the economic, social and cultural life of our state demand we give this our focused and unflagging attention. If we do not, we are setting our children on a trajectory for very difficult lives.
The good news is that, recently, the governor, Legislature, Secretary of Education Katie Jenner and Lilly Endowment have been working together to advance the science of reading in meaningful ways. Let us all get behind this effort in a sustained and unrelenting manner to ensure that all children have the opportunity to fulfill their promises and dreams.•
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Elsener is president of Marian University.
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