Navigating Literacy Policy: Higher Ed, Standards Board, and Legislative Coalitions

NAEP scores and state assessments results have pressured policy makers to take legislative action to improve reading outcomes for students in more than forty states. Legislation passed has focused on K-12 schools and practicing teachers. However, as Minnesota state policy makers turned their focus to teacher preparation and discussed possible mandates, a group of EPP faculty and K-5 literacy specialists came together to bridge the space between teacher prep and the classroom. This webinar will highlight how teacher educators worked with legislators and policymakers to develop a literacy continuous improvement rubric for EPPs aligned to the five pillars of literacy, integrating both content knowledge and classroom application.

Panelists will discuss the collaborative process used to develop the rubric and how they created a process where teacher educators hold each other responsible for effective instruction in teaching reading. They will also share the rubric, guidance for its use, and supporting resources.

Panelists include:

• Dr. Yelena Bailey, Executive Director, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board Minnesota 
• Rep Mary Francis Clardy, Minnesota House of Representatives
• Dr. Lucy Payne, Board Chair, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, Minnesota
• Dr. Becky Pitkin, Executive Director, Education Standards and Practices Board, North Dakota