Special Education Preparation in Reading:
Texas
Delivering Well Prepared Teachers Policy
Analysis of Texas's policies
Texas does not require candidates to pass a test that measures scientifically based reading instruction; however, the state's special education teacher preparation standards address the five components of scientifically based reading instruction.
Texas's preparation and licensure requirements for special education teachers
are not fully aligned with the state's college- and career-readiness
standards for students. The
state does not require content testing, and teacher standards do not
address informational texts
With regard to the incorporation of literacy in all core subjects, teacher standards for special education
teachers require only an understanding of "the nature and stages of
literacy development and various contexts and methods to promote
students' literacy development."
Texas's educator preparation curriculum must contain "reading
instruction, including instruction that improves students' content-area
literacy." The state's teacher standards require that
"teachers promote literacy and the academic language within the
discipline and make discipline-specific language accessible to all
learners."
Regarding struggling readers, state standards require special education teachers to "use a variety of literacy assessment practices to plan and implement literacy instruction for students with disabilities."
The state's elementary content test also requires the following:
- Knows how to select, administer and use results from informal and formal assessments of literacy acquisition to address individual students' needs; analyzes students' reading and writing performance and uses it as a basis for instruction
- Knows how to determine students' independent, instructional and frustration reading levels and uses the information to select appropriate materials for individual students and to guide students' selection of independent reading materials
- Uses ongoing assessments to determine when a student may be in need of classroom intervention or specialized reading instruction and to develop appropriate instructional plans.
Recommendations for Texas
Require all elementary special education teacher candidates to pass a rigorous assessment in the science of reading instruction.
Texas should require a rigorous reading assessment tool to ensure that its
elementary special education teacher candidates are adequately prepared
in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom. The assessment should clearly test knowledge and skills related to the science of reading and address all five instructional components of scientifically based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. If the test is combined with an
assessment that also tests general pedagogy or elementary content, it
should report a subscore for the science of reading specifically.
Elementary special education teachers who do not possess the minimum
knowledge in this area should not be eligible for licensure.
Ensure that new special education teachers are prepared to incorporate informational text of increasing complexity into classroom instruction.
Either
through testing frameworks or teacher standards, Texas should
specifically address the instructional shifts toward building content
knowledge and vocabulary through increasingly complex informational
texts and careful reading of informational and literary texts associated
with college- and career-readiness standards for students.
Ensure that new special education teachers are prepared to incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject.
To
ensure that special education students are capable of accessing varied
information about the world around them, Texas should also include
specific requirements regarding literacy skills and using text as a
means to build content knowledge in history/social studies, science,
technical subjects and the arts.
State response to our analysis
Texas was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts necessary for this analysis.
Texas added that the administrative code that deals with educator preparation and certification will be reviewed in October 2015, and changes related to certification requirements are expected to be proposed in February 2016. The anticipated effective date of proposed changes is August 2016.
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Texas
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Reading science has identified five components of effective instruction.
Teaching children to read is the most important task teachers undertake. Over the past 60 years, scientists from many fields have worked to determine how people learn to read and why some struggle. This science of reading has led to breakthroughs that can dramatically reduce the number of children destined to become functionally illiterate or barely literate adults. By routinely applying in the classroom the lessons learned from the scientific findings, most reading failure can be avoided. Estimates indicate that the current failure rate of 20 to 30 percent could be reduced to 2 to 10 percent.
Scientific research has shown that there are five essential components of effective reading instruction: explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Many states' policies still do not reflect the strong research consensus in reading instruction that has emerged over the last few decades. Many teacher preparation programs resist teaching scientifically based reading instruction. NCTQ's reports on teacher preparation, beginning with What Education Schools Aren't Teaching about Reading and What Elementary Teachers Aren't Learning in 2006 and continuing through the Teacher Prep Review in 2013 and 2014, have consistently found the overwhelming majority of teacher preparation programs across the country do not train teachers in the science of reading. Whether through standards or coursework requirements, states must direct programs to provide this critical training. But relying on programs alone is insufficient; states must only grant a license to new special education elementary teachers who can demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills to teach children to read.
Effective early reading instruction is especially important for teachers of special education students.
By far, the largest classification of students receiving special education services are those with learning disabilities. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, it is estimated that reading disabilities account for about 80 percent of learning disabilities. While early childhood and elementary teachers must know the reading science to prevent reading difficulties, special education teachers, and especially elementary special education teachers, must know how to support students who have already fallen behind and struggle with reading and literacy skills. That some states actually require less from special education teachers in terms of preparation to teach reading than they require from general education teachers is baffling and deeply worrisome.
College- and career-readiness standards require significant shifts in literacy instruction.
College- and career-readiness standards for K-12 students adopted by nearly all states require from a teachers a different focus on literacy integrated into all subject areas. The standards demand that teachers are prepared to bring complex text and academic language into regular use, emphasize the use of evidence from informational and literary texts and build knowledge and vocabulary through content-rich text. While most states have not ignored teachers' need for training and professional development related to these instructional shifts, few states have attended to the parallel need to align teacher competencies and requirements for teacher preparation so that new teachers will enter the classroom ready to help students meet the expectations of these standards. For special education teachers, preparation and training must focus on managing these instructional shifts while also helping students who may have serious reading deficiencies.
Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction: Supporting Research
For evidence on what new teachers are not learning about reading instruction, see NCTQ, "What Education Schools Aren't Teaching About Reading and What Elementary Teachers Aren't Learning" 2006) at:http://www.nctq.org/nctq/images/nctq_reading_study_app.pdf.
For problems with existing reading tests, see S. Stotsky, "Why American Students Do Not Learn to Read Very Well: The Unintended Consequences of Title II and Teacher Testing," Third Education Group Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2006; and D. W. Rigden, Report on Licensure Alignment with the Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction (Washington, D.C.: Reading First Teacher Education Network, 2006).
For information on where states set passing scores on elementary level content tests for teacher licensing across the U.S., see chart on p. 13 of NCTQ "Recommendations for the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Removing the Roadblocks: How Federal Policy Can Cultivate Effective Teachers," (2011).
For an extensive summary of the research base supporting the instructional shifts associated with college- and career-readiness standards, see "Research Supporting the Common Core ELA Literacy Shifts and Standards" available from Student Achievement Partners.