Licensure Deficiencies: Idaho
Elementary Teacher Preparation Policy
Analysis of Idaho's policies
Content Test Requirements: Idaho's early childhood education teachers, who are licensed to teach elementary grades through grade 3, are required to pass the new Praxis II Early Childhood Education (5025) test and the Special Education: Preschool/Early Childhood test (5691). The Early Childhood Education test does not report separate subscores in the core content areas of language arts, math,
science or social studies.
Scientifically Based Reading Instruction—Tests and Standards:
As a condition of initial licensure, all early childhood candidates teaching
the elementary grades must pass the state's Comprehensive Literacy
Assessment, which addresses all five instructional components of
scientifically based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics,
fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. However, the state's description of the test includes references to standards that are not aligned with the science of reading.
Informational Texts: The Early Childhood Education test addresses both the use of informational texts and text complexity. With regard to the
incorporation of informational text of increasing complexity, teachers are
required to know how to "explain factors that contribute to text
complexity (e.g., vocabulary, sentence complexity, images) [and] select
appropriate texts for readers at various levels."
Idaho's new Comprehensive Literacy standards require that teachers are able to "analyze the complexity of text
structures; utilize a variety of narrative and informational texts from both
print and digital sources."
Teachers must understand:
- Importance of using a variety of texts and formats to enhance students' understanding of topics, issues, and content.
- Text complexity and structures and the importance of matching texts to readers.
- How to use instructional strategies to promote critical thinking and deeper comprehension across all genres and text formats.
- How to use instructional strategies to promote vocabulary development for all students, including English language learners.
- Analyze texts to determine complexity in order to support a range of readers.
- Select and utilize instructional strategies to promote critical thinking and deeper comprehension across all genres and text formats.
Struggling Readers: Idaho's new Comprehensive literacy standards require candidates to be able to use "assessment data to inform and design differentiated literacy instruction." In addition, the state requires teachers to be able to understand how to:
- Choose appropriate literacy assessments to determine the needs of the learner.
- Use literacy assessment results to inform and guide intervention processes.
- Measure and determine students' independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels"
Recommendations for Idaho
Require all early childhood candidates who are eligible to teach elementary grades to pass a subject-matter test designed to ensure sufficient content knowledge of all subjects.
Idaho should require all early childhood education teacher candidates who teach elementary grades to pass an elementary content test appropriately aligned with its college- and career-readiness standards. Although requiring a content test is a step in the right direction, the state should require separate, meaningful passing scores for each core subject covered on the test, including reading/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The state's current practice of using a composite passing score offers no assurance of adequate knowledge in each subject area and therefore fails to ensure that a candidate who achieves a passing score has the necessary subject-matter knowledge to teach a particular subject area.
Ensure that the science of reading test is meaningful.
To ensure that its science of reading test is sufficiently rigorous, Idaho should evaluate its passing score to make certain it reflects a high standard of performance and that all teachers are well-prepared in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom. Further, it appears that the assessment spans K-12 literacy, which might make it possible for candidates to achieve the passing score without sufficient knowledge and skills for the elementary classroom.
Ensure that early childhood teachers are prepared to meet the instructional requirements of college- and career-readiness standards for students.
Incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject.
To ensure that elementary students are capable of accessing varied information about the world around them, Idaho should also—either through testing frameworks or teacher standards—include literacy skills and using text to build content knowledge in history/social studies, science, technical subjects and the arts.
Support struggling readers.
Idaho should articulate more specific requirements ensuring that all candidates who teach elementary grades are prepared to intervene and support students who are struggling. The early elementary grades are an especially important time to address reading deficiencies before students fall behind.
State response to our analysis
Idaho recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis, and was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts necessary for the analysis.
Updated: December 2017
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Idaho
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Early Childhood Preparation
How we graded
2D: Elementary Licensure Deficiencies
- Adequate Content Knowledge: The state should ensure that all new elementary teacher candidates teaching under an early childhood license possess sufficient elementary content knowledge in all core subjects, including mathematics.
- Scientifically Based Reading Instruction: The state should ensure that all new elementary teacher candidates teaching under an early childhood license are required to pass a rigorous test of scientifically based reading instruction. The design of the test should ensure that prospective teachers cannot pass without knowing the five scientifically based components of early reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
- College- and Career-Readiness Standards: The state should ensure that all new elementary teachers teaching under an early childhood license are sufficiently prepared for the ways that college- and career-readiness standards affect instruction in all subject areas. Specifically,
- The state should ensure that these early childhood education teachers are prepared to incorporate informational texts of increasing complexity into instruction.
- The state should ensure that these early childhood education teachers are prepared to incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject.
- The state should ensure that these early childhood education teachers are prepared to identify and support struggling readers.
One-half of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it requires early childhood teachers to pass the same individually scored content tests as elementary teachers.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it requires early childhood teachers to pass the same content tests as elementary teachers, but the content tests are not individually scored.
One-quarter of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it requires all new early childhood teachers to pass a rigorous test of scientifically based reading instruction. The design of the test must ensure that all prospective teachers are competent in the five research-based components of early reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
One-quarter of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if its elementary teacher preparation tests or standards address the three components of college- and career-readiness standards. To earn credit, states must have at least one component "fully addressed" and two "partially addressed."
Research rationale
Early childhood teachers who teach elementary grades must be ready for the demands of the elementary classroom. Many states have early childhood licenses that include some elementary classroom grades, usually up to grade three.[1] Because teachers with this early childhood license can still teach many elementary grades, they should not be held to a lower bar for subject-matter knowledge than if they held more standard elementary licenses. Given the focus on building students' content knowledge and vocabulary in college- and career-readiness standards,[2] states would put students at risk by not holding all elementary teachers to equivalent standards.[3] That is not to say the license requirements must be identical; there are certainly different focuses in terms of child development and pedagogy. But the idea that content knowledge is only needed by upper-grade elementary teachers is clearly false.
Focus on reading instruction is especially critical for early childhood teachers. Although some states do not ensure that any elementary teachers know the science of how to teach young children to read, in the states where this is a priority, it is inexcusable to hold elementary teachers on an early childhood license to a lower standard. Research is clear that the best defense against reading failure is effective early reading instruction.[4] Therefore, if such licenses are neglecting to meet the needs of the early elementary classroom, of which learning to read is paramount, they are failing to meet one of their most fundamental purposes.
[1] National Council on Teacher Quality. (2016, June). Some assembly required: Piecing together the preparation preschool teachers need. Retrieved from http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Preschool
[2] Student Achievement Partners. (2015). Research supporting the Common Core ELA/literacy shifts and standards. Retrieved from https://achievethecore.org/content/upload/Research%20Supporting%20the%20ELA%20Standards%20and%20Shifts%20Final.pdf
[3] Numerous research studies have established the strong relationship between teachers' vocabulary (a proxy for being broadly educated) and student achievement. For example: Wayne, A. J., & Youngs, P. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 73(1), 89-122.; See also: Whitehurst, G. J. (2002, March). Scientifically based research on teacher quality: Research on teacher preparation and professional development. In White House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teacher.; Ehrenberg, R. G., & Brewer, D. J. (1995). Did teachers' verbal ability and race matter in the 1960s? Coleman revisited. Economics of Education Review, 14(1), 1-21.; Research also connects individual content knowledge with increased reading comprehension, making the capacity of the teacher to infuse all instruction with content of particular importance for student achievement.; Willingham, D. T. (2006). How knowledge helps: It speeds and strengthens reading comprehension, learning, and thinking. American Educator, 30(1), 30. Retrieved from https://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/spring-2006/how-knowledge-helps
[4] Torgesen, J.K. (November 2005). Preventing reading disabilities in young children: Requirements at the classroom and school level. Presented at the Western North Carolina LD/ADD Symposium.; Walsh, K., Glaser, D., & Wilcox, D. D. (2006). What education schools aren't teaching about reading and what elementary teachers aren't learning. National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://www.nctq.org/nctq/images/nctq_reading_study_app.pdf