How did the University of Maine System respond to the NCTQ's findings?

University officials strongly refuted the findings, calling the ratings misleading and questioning the NCTQ's methodology.

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Universities Flunk Reading Prep, Report Says

Q: Which Maine universities received failing grades from the National Council on Teacher Quality?

The University of Maine in Orono, the University of Southern Maine, and the University of Maine at Farmington received failing grades.

Q: What are the five pillars of reading instruction cited by the NCTQ?

The five pillars are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

11 Jan

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Summary

Three Maine universities received failing grades for reading instruction preparation.
The National Council on Teacher Quality cited inadequate teaching of five reading pillars.
University officials dispute findings, citing flawed methodology and data.

Universities Flunk Reading Prep, Report Says

A recent review by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has assigned failing grades to three public universities in Maine for their elementary teacher preparation programs. The institutions in question are the University of Maine in Orono, the University of Southern Maine, and the University of Maine at Farmington.

The NCTQ's report indicates that these programs inadequately prepare future educators in five essential pillars of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This finding comes at a time when national and state reading scores for students have been declining.

However, representatives from the University of Maine System have strongly contested these ratings, labeling them as misleading and flawed. They argue that the NCTQ's methodology, which relied on publicly requested documents rather than direct observation, does not accurately reflect the quality of their programs or the success of their graduates.