Reading Teacher Preparation at

The University of Texas at San Antonio

A Summary of Program

Literacy Area Faculty:

Kimberley Cuero, Ph.D.

Janis Harmon, Ph.D.

Roxanne Henkin, Ed.D.

Rosalind Horowitz, Ph.D.

Susan Keehn, Ph.D.

Miriam Martinez, Ph.D.

Bertha Perez, Ph.D.

Misty Sailors, Ph.D.

Reading Teacher Preparation at The University of Texas at San Antonio
Vision and Mission
The vision of the reading teacher preparation program at the UTSA is guided by the vision and mission of the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (ILT). The program is committed to fostering intellectual and professional growth and integrity of students by:

• Promoting excellence in academic and pedagogical knowledge and research
• Engaging in reflective practices
• Embodying a strong professional identity and articulation of philosophies and values
• Valuing diversity and multiple perspectives
• Promoting equality and social justice
• Caring about students and the profession
• Advocating for educational change and reform

The literacy area faculty in the ILT department is committed to the goal of placing excellent teachers, prepared to address the needs of every student, in classrooms in the San Antonio metropolitan area and beyond. The UTSA teacher preparation program emphasizes reading instruction in its Early Childhood through grade 4 (EC-4) and grades 4-8 (4-8) certification areas. Graduates with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies enter the profession of teaching as responsible, reflective practitioners who are prepared to meet the literacy needs of learners from linguistically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds.

UTSA Teacher Candidates
There are approximately 1000 UTSA teacher candidates currently enrolled in the EC-4 certification and 132 teacher candidates enrolled in the 4-8 certification programs. Additionally, 57% and 45% of the students enrolled in the EC-4 and 4-8 programs (respectively) are the first generation in their family to be enrolled in an institute of higher education.

Teacher candidates accepted into the teacher preparation program must have at least a 2.5 GPA. In the fall of 2008, the average GPA for students who were accepted into the professional development sequence was 3.06. UTSA teacher candidates are known for their strong preparation and high performance on state licensing exams—with a 97% pass rate for the State of Texas Teacher Certification Exams (approximately 50% of items on this exam deal directly with issues of literacy and literacy education). Teacher candidates at UTSA regularly outperform the state average on Domain I (English/Language Arts/Reading) on that same exam.

Program Description
Teacher candidates at the UTSA are engaged in numerous reading courses during their teacher preparation program. The EC-4 candidates take five courses and 4-8 candidates in the Language Arts/Reading/Social Studies concentration take four reading courses and those in the Mathematics/Science concentration take 3 courses. The content of these courses is guided by state mandates as well as the standards as set forth by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English. The courses in both program areas are carefully sequenced and offer candidates opportunities to work in a variety of contexts with readers at different developmental levels.
The EC-4 program is guided by early field experiences and field-based experiences in which course content is closely tied to working with carefully selected cooperating teachers in partnership schools The nature of the field work is designed for gradual release of responsibility. That is, teacher candidates first work one-on-one with a student, then work with small groups of students and finally, teach an entire classroom of students. These field experiences are closely monitored and supervised by reading faculty. The 4-8 program provides students opportunities to engage in field experiences in both reading/language arts classrooms as well as in content area classrooms at the middle school level. The field experiences in both programs are supported by theory and research and require students to apply their new learning immediately employing instruction that is supportive of individual students. In particular, attention is paid to meeting the needs of learners who are linguistically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse. In some cases, UTSA teacher candidates combine their field experiences with service to their community by tutoring in the UTSA Reading Place: Plaza de Lectura at the downtown campus. This service provides literacy tutorials to children living in urban neighborhoods and offers opportunities for teacher candidates to work with students who are experiencing difficulties in reading and writing.

Teacher candidates learn the importance of research and theory in informing instructional practice. In particular, candidates learn the theoretical underpinnings and research regarding how students acquire language and literacy and learn to apply these understandings to make instructional decisions that support students’ literacy growth.. Candidates learn to implement multiple strategies to help children identify and understand the meaning of words in print.

Additionally, teacher candidates learn that reading comprehension involves the orchestration of the foundational elements needed for reading proficiency and they use multiple research-based practices for teaching comprehension across a variety of text formats and genres. Teacher candidates are able to teach both cognitive and metacognitive strategies for constructing meaning from print and to teach critical literacy strategies that encourage multiple perspectives. Teacher candidates also learn the importance of helping struggling older learners construct their own reader identities as they begin to understand what it means to be a reader.

Writing instruction, as well as the theoretical and research foundations on which it rests, is integral to the reading teacher preparation program at UTSA. A particular focus of the program is on the integration of language arts into reading instruction. As part of their preparation, teacher candidates learn how authentic texts—literary, informational, and nonlinear—can serve as the basis for both reading and writing instruction.

Candidates are provided with multiple opportunities to learn about instructional approaches and effective use of a variety of materials. Teacher candidates learn how to create a rich literate environment for their students and how to organize and manage a classroom for literacy instruction. Faculty model these practices through field-based courses, and students in both certification areas are held responsible for implementing these practices.
Additionally, assessment plays a critical role in the teaching practices of candidates, including formative, ongoing, and summative assessments. Candidates learn to identify specific needs of learners and to inform instruction accordingly. In short, candidates learn to use assessments in purposeful and meaningful ways. Candidates are engaged in thoughtfully responsive practices. They learn to engage in reflections that guide their teaching and the learning of their students. These reflections include ongoing assessment, observational data, and implications for future instruction.

Professional Development Activities
A rich array of professional development activities is offered each semester. Sponsored through local funding and facilitated by the reading area faculty, activities such as the following are offered on a regular basis:

• Annual conference of the San Antonio Writing Project
• Annual UTSA Storytelling Festival
• Semiannual Children’s Author series: Lynne Cherry, Gary Soto, Pat Mora, and others
• Poetry Alive!
• Semiannual Literacy Mini-Conference: “Organizing and Managing a Literacy Program”

Time and time again, the responses of the attendees of these events are positive—teacher candidates feel these were valuable experiences.

Additionally, the program has an active UTSA IRA Student Council (130 members). The meetings are well attended and well organized. The Student Council officers plan interactive meetings that include question-and-answer sessions with first-year teacher panels, presentations about job interviews from principals, exemplary reading teachers as guest speakers, and children’s author visits. The Student Council members also engage in community service projects, including donating book collections to school libraries and reading to children in local hospitals.

Finally, teacher candidates are encouraged to participate in research with faculty members and are invited to present at local and state conferences.

Faculty
Through the dedication of the seven tenure/tenure-track faculty members, the facilitation of beginning teachers who are prepared to make a difference in the lives of children is possible. The seven faculty members have a combined 90 years of classroom teaching experiences and 134 years of preservice teacher preparation experiences. These teaching experiences span across the United States as well as international settings. These faculty members are productive in the area of scholarship and are nationally and internationally recognized for their work. They provide service to the department, college, and university. Additionally, they serve as editors of a highly respected professional journal and facilitate international projects.

The faculty members facilitate and serve as “lead faculty” for the 11 different reading courses that are offered in the program, overseeing the content of the courses and supporting adjuncts who teach the courses to ensure the quality of the program. Typically, each literacy faculty supports between 4 and 8 adjuncts who are at various levels of expertise in the field of reading education. Approximately 30 sections of undergraduate reading courses are offered each semester and are taught by this combined team of faculty members and highly qualified adjuncts (master’s degree or better with a minimum of 18 hours of reading).

For more information, contact

Misty Sailors (misty.sailors@utsa.edu), Literacy Area Facilitator

One UTSA Circle

San Antonio, TX 78249

210-458-7288