The authors' institution exceeded the Texas Science of Teaching Reading (STR) exam's passing rate of 86.6% for the 2021-2022 academic year. The authors think this success was largely due to conducting an analysis of test questions and helping preservice teachers better prepare for the exam. The authors helped preservice teachers supplement the…

The Science of Teaching Reading (STR) has burgeoned nationally and changed the requirements for Texas Teacher Education Programs (TEPs), causing researchers to fear that the focus on foundational skills will limit attention given to writing, and the reading-writing relationship in particular. The present content analysis investigates literacy…

The "Science of Reading" (SOR) has gained traction due to public media, resulting in a nationwide prioritization of teacher training and changes in the way reading is taught. The nationwide emphasis on the SOR led to new teacher certification requirements in Texas. Although teacher candidates already take a content exam to demonstrate…

The Science of Teaching Reading (STR) has received increasing attention as states continue to pass educational policy initiatives grounded in STR research. One major change resulting from STR policies is the heavy focus on the systematic instruction of phonics. Texas in particular has seen sweeping changes to their preservice teacher (PST)…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the effects of a tutorial program on first-grade children's reading skills and their tutors' (also preservice teachers) knowledge of reading instruction. Participants consisted of a group of 30 first-grade children served in the program and a control group of 30 children. Literacy…

As Texas schools become increasingly diverse, educators are presented with opportunities to build on students' linguistic strengths and engage in transformative literacy teaching. Culturally sustaining early literacy instruction provides an avenue for teachers to support multilingual learners by leveraging their linguistic and cultural experiences…

The purpose of this study was to assess preservice teachers' comfort levels and familiarity with the teaching competencies embedded in the Texas Reading Academy curriculum. Participants in this study were eight clinical teachers involved in a pilot program with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which was evaluating the feasibility of extending…

This issue's Featured Article is bold! Readers are challenged to be advocates with loud voices, ready to push back on current legislation intended to silence voices in our classrooms and on our bookshelves. The author provides readers with an overview of laws and legislation currently impacting teachers and provides ideas for what you, as an…

In this article, the authors encourage readers to get their minds IN the gutters--the literal gutters of graphic novels, that is. Gutters, one of many graphic novel text features, provide visual and metacognitive insight readers must use to make meaning as they read. Teachers must provide explicit instruction regarding these features and other…

Some children come to school with a smaller vocabulary than their peers. If children do not have knowledge of the meaning of the words they read in texts, they will fail to comprehend those texts and struggle to keep up with their peers. This is critical because the link between vocabulary and comprehension is very clear (Sticht et al., 1974, as…

Response to intervention (RtI) is a multitiered system of support framework that focuses on best practices for intervention. Because many secondary students exhibit weak literacy skills, the focus of this study is reading interventions. This qualitative study examines administrators' perspectives of implementing literacy interventions within a…

The 2017 TEKS revision, the 2023 STAAR redesign, and the 2024 TCTELA conference theme call on literacy professionals to "forge the future of literacy" in Texas. Specifically, the future demands that we more fully integrate reading and writing instruction and that we help students develop a deeper understanding of author's purpose and…

Exploring the realm of literacy involves understanding how graphic novels shape students' reading and writing journeys. Through scholarly research, the authors delve into the significant impact of graphic novels on education while highlighting their appeal to students through visual features and engaging storytelling. Included is a discussion of…

To cultivate the acceptance of the co-teaching model among preservice teachers, two of the education faculty at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, have incorporated co-teaching in several field-based literacy courses. Alongside experiencing co-teaching from their professors, preservice teachers are also provided with the opportunity to practice…

The importance of contextualization within postsecondary contexts has been embraced by the state of Texas, as shown by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's (THECB) Accelerate Texas Initiative (THECB, n.d.). Contextualization, in short, is the teaching and development of basic skills and knowledge within a specific disciplinary topic…