11/21/2024

District Administrators: 10 Reasons to Implement Teacher Professional Development in Literacy

Two-thirds of American fourth grade students scored below the basic or proficient reading level on the 2022 NAEP Reading Assessment, while eighth grade students achieved similar reading scores. Despite targeted efforts to improve literacy, young and adolescent students must make significant reading gains to better prepare them for college and career. One reason students' scores lag is the way they were taught to read. In 2019, a national survey reported that about 72% of teachers used the balanced literacy approach to teaching reading. Now, these students are in middle school and struggle to read well enough to master content-area subjects. Research shows that reading only develops naturally for some children, and more than half require direct instruction on foundational reading skills.

In a recent Fireside Chat With Dr. Louisa Moats, the literacy expert and co-author of Lexia LETRS® Professional Learning, Dr. Moats discussed the necessity of high-quality professional literacy learning for educators and what teachers need to keep students on track. During the chat, elementary and middle school educators expressed their desire for more reading-focused teacher professional development. One attendee commented that trainings often don’t focus on teaching reading, leaving teachers to struggle on their own. 

“We need to be providing training to [teachers] in all grade levels, because I had eighth graders who read at a kindergarten level,” said Courtney S., a district literacy coach in Georgia. “Thankfully, I had the primary background to support that, but many of my co-workers did not…”

10 Reasons Literacy-Focused Professional Learning Benefits All Teachers

Studies have shown that many educators aren’t satisfied with their professional development, yet teacher quality is one of the most important factors in student learning, making professional development critical for schools and teachers. Rather than being "sit and get" workshops, these trainings should include characteristics such as active learning, coaching, and opportunities for feedback and reflection, according to The Learning Policy Institute. 

Professional literacy learning must focus on teaching essential components aligned with the science of reading to build students’ reading proficiency. When educators are prepared to teach phonemic awareness, fluency, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension, they can expect to achieve higher student success rates. 

Here are 10 reasons why districts should invest in teacher professional development to build more robust literacy programs that result in higher student achievement.

1. Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs Didn’t Effectively Train Educators

Most higher education teacher preparation courses only teach some of the essential components of reading. According to Dr. Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), only about a quarter of teachers who leave teacher preparation programs are prepared to teach literacy based on research rooted in the science of reading. In 2020, an EdWeek survey that asked K–2 and special education teachers where they learned most of what they know about reading found that 33% identified professional development as their main source of knowledge, while only 5% reported receiving their training from pre-service preparation. Through intentional program design, teacher preparation programs must ensure teachers have the skills they need to successfully provide high-quality reading instruction to all children, the 2023 NCTQ study asserts. To fill critical knowledge gaps, teacher professional development courses must give teachers the background, knowledge, and tools to effectively improve student reading.

2. Curricula Doesn’t Teach Students to Read, Teachers Do

As of January 2024, 37 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws and policies mandating evidence-based reading practices in schools. These changes have caused districts to adopt curricula and materials that align with these practices quickly. Districts can adopt evidence-based curricula and tools, but if teachers aren’t equipped to implement these strategies, they won’t be used effectively—or even at all. Programs are impactful only when teachers understand the content they are teaching and the purpose of the various components and routines. 

3. Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science

Learning how to read is not a natural process that students pick up just by looking at a book. According to an EAB study, only 30% of students learn to read with “any instruction. " More than half will need explicit and direct instruction in foundational skills, and 15% will require additional instruction and support. The remaining 5% will continue to struggle due to cognitive disabilities. 

Teaching a struggling reader can prove to be even more difficult than learning how to read. According to Dr. Moats, before children can easily sound out or decode words, they must have at least an implicit awareness of the speech sounds represented by letters and their combinations. To effectively teach reading, educators must understand these concepts and present them from simple and consistent to complex and variable. Teachers with solid backgrounds in each of the five pillars of reading—covered in depth in both the LETRS and Lexia Aspire® Professional Learning programs—have the potential to reach 95% of their students, provided they receive the proper foundation and teacher professional development to do so. 

4. Literacy Teachers Lack Language Training, Which Is Missing From Some Curricula

In addition to lacking essential literacy pre-service courses, many teachers also lack the language structure and development knowledge that underpins reading and writing. To be effective, teachers must understand how English spelling represents sounds, syllables, and meaning to help students sound out and remember words. They must also convey the similarities and differences among speech sounds and explain how letters and their combinations represent sounds and words. Because most pre-service reading curricula lack these components, teachers benefit from professional development programs that prepare them to cover all elements of literacy instruction.

5. The Balanced Literacy Movement Stripped Away Important Phonics and Phoneme Awareness Instruction

Phoneme awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words) and phonics were largely left out of the balanced literacy and whole language approaches to teaching reading. Among respondents to a 2020 EdWeek survey, 72% of K–2 and special education teachers said their schools used a balanced literacy or whole language approach. The survey also revealed that 86% of teachers with up to 10 years of experience advise students to sound out words they don’t know, but that percentage dropped to 57% for those who had taught for more than 20 years. Nearly 30% of middle school teachers engage in phonemic awareness with their students and another 25% spend time on phonics. Novice and veteran educators in grades pre-K–8 must better understand the roles that phoneme awareness and phonics play in reading development so they can systematically and explicitly teach these skills to their students. LETRS (pre-K–5) and Aspire (grades 4–8) tailor teacher professional development to address the unique reading challenges faced by elementary and adolescent students.

6. Teacher Self-Reporting on Literacy Knowledge Is Often Incorrect

Many teachers overestimate the strength of their knowledge of reading instruction before engaging in substantive professional learning, and most have never been evaluated on their literacy knowledge. According to a 2021 NCTQ evaluation of state licensure tests for teachers, only 20 states used assessments that thoroughly measured candidates' knowledge of the science of reading. 

During a recent webinar, Tennessee librarian Vestena B. commented on the guilt many teachers express once they gain more knowledge of the science of reading approach from LETRS or Aspire. 

“After 40+ years as an educator, I can empathize with feeling guilty for not knowing what we NOW know, but we all did our BEST based on what we knew at the time, and as we know more, we CAN keep becoming better educators,” Vestena said.            

7. Effective Teacher Professional Learning Is Often Lacking

Professional development isn’t just about providing expert advice or addressing the needs of Emergent Bilingual students or students with disabilities—it also needs to strongly connect to student outcomes, according to a 2023 RAND study that surveyed 8,000 math, science, and English/language arts teachers across grades K–12. When teachers are able to apply the information they learn in professional learning courses like LETRS and Aspire, this can have a measurable impact on student learning. Furthermore, districts may see sustainable improvements over time when teachers have the necessary administrative support and structure. 

8. Collaborative Training Leads to Better Outcomes

Boosting student literacy can't happen in a vacuum—teachers need the right materials and instruction, along with the opportunity to collaborate with grade-level colleagues, coaches, mentors, and administrators who share the same goals. For example, Lexia LETRS® for Administrators helps guide state, district, and building administrators and instructional leaders to create adaptable and sustainable literacy programs. By defining the systems and infrastructures required to implement a science of reading approach successfully, school leaders can ensure that their teachers will get the support needed to effectively enact systemic changes.

9. Evidence-Based Professional Learning Leads to Improved Student Outcomes

Literacy experts Dr. Moats and Dr. Carol Tolman developed LETRS to train educators how to teach beginning readers. More than a curriculum or set of activities, the first part of LETRS teaches educators how to assess students’ knowledge of the English language (phonemic awareness), how sounds represent letters that can create words (phonics), and how and why to teach word parts (morphology). In the second part of the course, teachers learn how to develop students’ spoken language abilities, increase vocabulary, and build comprehension skills. They also learn how to diagnose reading problems and differentiate instruction.

In many states, LETRS implementation can be linked to improved student outcomes—particularly in states that reported moderate to high levels of implementation, such as Mississippi. Over two years, about 30% of the state's 7,600 teachers completed all eight LETRS modules, and their quality of instruction, student engagement, and teaching competencies all increased. 

In 2023, Lexia® introduced Aspire for upper-elementary and middle school teachers looking to accelerate literacy skills in their classrooms by bridging the gap from learning to read to reading to learn. Aspire helps educators quickly build the depth of skills they need to support students who can read, but students may still have gaps in foundational reading skills. Self-paced professional development courses help content-area teachers gain the knowledge and skills they need to apply science-based strategies to students who need varying levels of literacy support.

Ryan K., a Science of Reading Week attendee, shared that he has already facilitated several cohorts of LETRS and is onboarding his middle school teachers to Aspire in hopes of "putting a big dent" in his district's reading challenges.

10. Teacher Efficacy Leads to Teacher Retention and Student Achievement

Self-efficacy refers to believing in one’s ability to “execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments,” according to the American Psychological Association. When teachers develop self-efficacy, this reflects a confidence that they will be able to impact student learning positively. According to education researcher Dr. John Hattie, the development of this construct among groups of teachers—otherwise known as "collective efficacy"—may be the most critical influence on teacher job satisfaction and, thus, on teacher retention.

Hattie found that teacher perceptions of self-efficacy don’t just affect teacher job satisfaction. In an analysis of 195 different influences on learning, he found that the highest effect size was found for collective teacher efficacy. In other words, when it comes to student achievement, students learn best from teachers who believe in their own instructional abilities. 

One of the most effective strategies for attracting and retaining talented teachers (and upskilling new teachers) is to provide professional development opportunities that explicitly address student literacy. When teachers have the knowledge and skills to apply evidence-based reading strategies in the classroom, they feel more empowered to implement these strategies with fidelity.

Simply put, teachers who have completed LETRS and Aspire are better prepared to support the reading needs of all students. These rich professional learning courses drive greater student achievement and ensure your educators have the tools and support they need to meet state and district literacy goals. 

A successful shift to science of reading-based instruction requires a strong investment in professional learning. Learn how you can equip teachers, principals, coaches, and interventionists with a shared vision of literacy instruction based on the science of reading in the Districts Administrators: Create an Ecosystem for Science of Reading Instruction webinar.