Johnny can’t read because his teachers can’t teach.
“I’m rightly alarmed,” said state Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan. “It’s clear to me there hasn’t been enough attention to the science” of teaching reading, he said. “You can’t teach something well that you don’t know.”
At McQuillan’s urging, the state Board of Education imposed the new certification requirement for elementary and preschool teachers because of concern over disappointing reading performance in Connecticut’s elementary schools, particularly among low-income and minority children. …
In a survey of Connecticut elementary and special education teachers published two years ago in the journal Reading Psychology, more than half the teachers surveyed failed to identify key elements of Connecticut’s Blueprint for Reading Achievement, including at what grade levels children are expected to master specific reading skills. A majority also said that their certification program had not adequately prepared them to teach reading.