No teacher left behind: Valuing teacher voice in elementary reading teacher education reform

Abstract

Elementary teachers have long been absent from the debates surrounding teacher education reform. This research aimed to provide an avenue for teachers to share their insights and beliefs about teacher education. A two‐tiered selection produced a sample of over two‐hundred elementary teachers for this study. They were asked to compare their own reading teacher education to that of the student teachers with whom they worked. Most indicated that reading teacher education had changed little since they received their undergraduate degrees, but regardless of their overall evaluation, two items emerged as the basis of that decision: coursework and field experiences.