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The brief highlights the five core reading components—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—and reviews two key questions: test quality and which states use acceptable tests. 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tests?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Less than half of elementary teacher reading licensure tests adequately assess the core components of scientifically based reading instruction.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},585912,1792144261,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & 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elementary teachers understand reading instruction  \nUpdated March 2024 By Hannah Putman  \nLicensure tests should be an efficient and comprehensive way for policymakers to ensure that all teachers possess the basic knowledge and skills they need to effectively teach students to read. Yet more than half of states use a weak licensure test that fails to adequately measure elementary teachers’ knowledge of scientifically based reading instruction. This shortcoming means that annually, nearly 100,000 elementary teachers across the country enter classrooms with false assurances that they’re ready to teach reading,1 and the districts that hire them have false assurances that those teachers are adequately prepared.  \nOne of elementary teachers’ core responsibilities is to teach children to read. But in elementary classrooms across the country, roughly a third of children cannot read at even a basic level by the middle of fourth grade.2 The data does not reflect any failure by these students; rather, these low literacy rates are because we are not giving students access to teachers with the skills and knowledge to teach reading. This lack of reading ability sets these children up for a future in which they’re less likely to graduate high school, less likely to have gainful employment, and less likely to be able to build the life they want and deserve.3 Students of color and those living in poverty are most impacted, widening opportunity gaps. These children, who are already falling behind their white and more wealthy peers in reading,4 are the most likely to be assigned novice teachers,5 whose knowledge of reading instruction may not have been adequately evaluated.  \nSeveral factors affect whether students learn to read during their elementary years. A primary reason is whether their teachers are well-versed in the fundamental components  \nFalse Assurances [nctq.org | 1](nctq.org | 1)  \nof reading and how to teach them. Decades of research have identified these five core components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness (including phonological awareness), phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.6 Numerous studies have found that with skillful instruction in these core components, the rate of illiteracy can drop from more than three in ten students to less than one in ten students.7  \nThese components of reading represent essential knowledge that all elementary teachers need, and teachers’ knowledge of them is both teachable and testable if the right policies are in place. Research by the National Council on Teacher Quality ( NCTQ) and others finds that while there are some effective teacher preparation programs, many of the programs preparing aspiring teachers are doing too little to equip them with the knowledge and skills to deliver scientifically based reading instruction.8  \nRecognizing teachers’ vital role in student success, most states put in place a final check on teachers’ knowledge. In all but one state, teachers must pass a licensure test that incorporates questions about reading and reading instruction before they earn a license and are hired to lead a classroom.  \nAre those licensure tests doing their job? Often, they are not. More than half of states use a weak licensure test that fails to accurately signal whether teachers understand reading instruction.  \nNCTQ’s new analysis of the quality of reading licensure tests required for elementary teachers reveals not only some bright spots and strong test options used in some states, but also systematic weaknesses in the tests many states use to vet new teachers. While this analysis focuses on tests required for general elementary teachers' certification, every teacher of elementary-age students, including those certified in special education or teaching English learners, should demonstrate their knowledge of reading instruction.  \nFor this analysis, NCTQ examined two key ","cbCaid8frnVk61vl","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaid8frnVk61vl","pdf",252297,16,"English","# Introduction\n## Core reading instruction components\n# Policy context\n## Licensure tests as a check on teacher knowledge\n# NCTQ analysis questions\n## Test quality\n## States using acceptable tests\n# Findings\n## Assessment of core components","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the brief identify with many states’ licensure tests?\",\"answer\":\"It finds that more than half of states use weak licensure tests that fail to accurately signal whether elementary teachers understand reading instruction.\"},{\"question\":\"Which five core components of reading instruction are emphasized?\",\"answer\":\"The brief cites phonemic awareness (including phonological awareness), phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as the five core components.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the findings indicate about the quality of reading licensure tests?\",\"answer\":\"Less than half of elementary teacher reading licensure tests adequately assess the core components of scientifically based reading instruction.\"}]","STATE POLICY DATA BRIEF - False Assurances: Many states’ licensure tests don’t signal whether elementary teachers understand reading instruction | PDF",1792056326]