Goshen college earns national recognition for preparing future elementary school teachers in the science of reading

The Goshen College Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with Certification program and has earned an A+ from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) for how well they prepare future teachers to teach reading to elementary students.

The report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, published on June 9, spotlights Goshen College for meeting the standards set by literacy experts for coverage of the most effective methods of reading instruction. This means the program is preparing aspiring teachers in all five components of scientifically based reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary, and avoids many instructional practices that research has shown to be ineffective or counterproductive for teaching children to read.

A child’s ability to read proficiently in the early grades shapes everything that comes next in school and in life. According to NAEP data, one in three fourth graders in Indiana cannot read at a basic level. Teacher preparation is one of the most direct levers available to change that — but only if it is aligned to the instructional methods that have been proven to help most students become successful readers.

Goshen College is part of a growing group of teacher preparation programs nationwide helping transform how future teachers are trained to teach reading.

“Every child deserves a teacher who has been well prepared to teach reading, and every teacher deserves the opportunity to enter the classroom ready to help students succeed,” said NCTQ President Heather Peske. “Across the country, many teacher preparation programs still do not fully align with the science of reading, but Goshen College is demonstrating what strong preparation can look like.”

In 2024, Goshen College received a $489,915 implementation grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Advancing the Science of Reading in Indiana (ASRI) Initiative. The implementation grant helped the Education Department host a Science of Reading Summit last fall. The summit predominantly served regional Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teachers who wanted to incorporate the science of reading strategies in their classrooms.

Since then, the department has developed literary coursework for its remote Transition to Teaching program. Now, all Goshen College Education programs adhere to the science of reading standards.

“Communities cannot thrive without excellent teachers. GC’s Education Department is outstanding in the disciplined and caring way that they prepare teachers to serve communities in Indiana and beyond,” President Rebecca Stoltzfus said. “As this national recognition makes clear, they are the best of the best.”

NCTQ’s methodology is informed by a panel of reading experts, teacher preparation faculty, reading advocates and measurement experts. To evaluate the quality of preparation being provided, a team of experts at NCTQ analyzed syllabi, including lecture schedules and topics, background reading materials, class assessments, assignments and opportunities to practice instruction in required literacy courses for elementary teacher candidates at Goshen College.

To earn an “A,” programs needed to demonstrate that coursework for future elementary teachers includes all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction and avoid teaching more than three instructional methods that are unsupported by the research on effective reading instruction. To earn an A+, programs needed to exceed those targets and not teach any instructional practices that are unsupported by research.

Kathy Meyer Reimer, chair of the Education Department, said, “While we have been providing high-quality instruction for Goshen College students who are becoming teachers for years, we are pleased to know that our literacy instruction for soon-to-be teachers — which translates into good literacy instruction for many elementary school students — is deemed to be of the highest quality by outside evaluators.”

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About NCTQ
The National Council on Teacher Quality: NCTQ is a nonpartisan research and policy organization on a mission to ensure every child has access to an effective teacher and every teacher has the opportunity to be effective. We believe a strong, diverse teacher workforce is critical for providing all students with equitable educational opportunities. For more information about NCTQ, visit www.nctq.org.

See NCTQ’s report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, for more information about Goshen College’s coverage of the science of reading and to see how Goshen College compares to other programs in Indiana or across the country.