Educating Preservice Teachers: The State of Affairs.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper examines reading issues and strategies for the 21st century, analyzing interventions that could become models for ensuring quality and alignment in preservice teacher education and reviewing the "Gap Analysis of Preservice and Inservice Teacher Training of Reading Instruction: Large-Scale Survey Study." It also synthesizes findings from reading research studies in preservice teacher education and provides recommendations, action plans, and thoughts for preservice teacher education in reading and literacy in general. Four sections present "Overview of Critical Issues and Strategies for the 21st Century and Beyond" (e.g., rapid teacher retirement, poverty and second language students, and alternative certification); "Interventions for Alignment in Preservice Teacher Education" (e.g., Higher Education Act: Title II, public school teacher quality, and teacher quality and student achievement); "NCREL's 'Gap Analysis of Preservice and Inservice Teacher Training of Reading Instruction: Large-Scale Survey Study'"; and "Synthesis of Preservice Teacher Education Research Studies in the Field of Reading" (e.g., preservice teachers' perspectives, teaching experiences, and diagnostic teaching). Two appendixes include the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standards and Matrix from "Initial Programs for Middle/Junior High and Senior High School English Language Arts Teaching" and "International Reading Association (IRA) Standards for Specialized Reading Professionals." (Contains 63 references.) (SM)