Connecticut has one of the nation?s most pernicious gaps in achievement between its affluent and disadvantaged students, but help may be on the way. The state is about to require as a condition of licensure that all elementary teachers must pass a test that shows they know how to teach reading.
As shown in NCTQ?s study What Education Schools Aren?t Teaching About Reading and What Elementary Teachers Aren?t Learning, most teacher preparation programs do not train teachers in the science of reading instruction. Connecticut?s test will surely turn up the heat on its ed schools, particularly since the state has adopted the rigorous, research-based test used by its northern neighbor, Massachusetts.
Margie B. Gillis, director of Connecticut?s Haskins Literacy Initiative, praised the new requirement for recognizing that just knowing how to read does not mean one can teach it to others: ?That may be true for riding a bicycle, that may be true for driving a car. Unfortunately, reading is not that.???