Step 1: Good Teachers

Every reading teacher should know how to teach phonics, yet in California thousands of them don’t. Never trained in any method of reading instruction because they entered the classroom on an emergency credential, or trained during the state’s headlong embrace of the whole-language method of instruction, many simply don’t know the best way to teach children how to read.

Reading by 9, this newspaper’s literacy crusade, recognizes that children need to learn to read in English at grade level by the end of the third grade to increase their potential for academic and professional success. Most students do not come close to meeting that goal in Southern California. Two out of three fail to master reading before they start the fourth grade and many never catch up.

Reversing this reading crisis will require additional phonics-based reading instruction for aspiring teachers, and for many who are already in the classroom.

State government is responding to the problem. A new law requires aspiring teachers to study phonics, but as The Times’ continuing series on reading documented Sunday, some education professors are undermining this prescription. They cling entirely to the whole-language approach, which emphasizes learning to read by reading, instead of advocating a balance that starts with phonics and continues to develop the vocabulary and comprehension skills required for competence in reading.

None of this backlash should be tolerated in the California State University system, which produces 60% of all public school teachers. The new CSU chancellor, Charles B. Reed, has made improving the training of public school teachers his highest priority. His goal should include holding education professors accountable for mandatory phonics-based reading instruction. Any other course shortchanges new teachers, who now are required to pass a state reading test proving they know how to teach phonics.

The state teacher credentialing commission recently certified California’s nearly 80 teacher training programs, and closer reviews are scheduled over the next five years to ensure compliance with the new law. The review period should be shorter because California students need better-trained teachers right now.

Improvements in teacher training programs are just half of the solution. The rest lies in helping ineffective reading teachers who are already in schools. One out of 10 California teachers holds an emergency credential. These teachers need training linked to the reading textbooks used at their school, as well as more general teaching courses. Some of this could be done during the school day, except that the days allotted to “professional development,” as in-service training is called, have been shaved by the state from eight to three. This instruction cannot wait until summer or breaks in the year-round calendar and should be scheduled by school districts on Saturdays. Inexperienced teachers also need support from mentor teachers and close guidance from principals.

Because Reading by 9 recognizes the importance of training for teachers already in the classroom, this newspaper will facilitate reading workshops and conferences in the next year, similar to a weekend program held recently at The Times by the Los Angeles school district and the teachers union. Corporate partners can also help by subsidizing teachers who are willing to give up a Saturday to improve their skills; companies can sponsor trips to reading conferences and provide incentives to seek training. Every investment in a reading teacher is an investment in students.

California is part of a national groundswell. Congress passed a law earlier this month that will require teacher training programs that receive federal funds to report how many graduates pass state licensing and certification exams. Teacher preparation programs that consistently perform poorly will be barred from accepting any student who receives federal aid. That incentive should make a difference in the quality of instruction, and of teachers.

Maryland has increased the number of reading instruction courses required for new teachers. So has Texas, where teacher training programs must post a 70% pass rate on the state teacher licensing exam or face probation and even the loss of the authority to certify teachers if the programs go three years with no significant improvement. California should consider adopting a similar incentive.

Teachers can’t teach what they don’t know. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be fixed. No one, particularly in our state universities, should stand in the way.

For more information, call toll-free (877) READBY9 or visit The Times’ Web site at www.latimes.com/readingby9.