UW–Madison’s Tom Owenby says the School of Education is making efforts to adapt to Wisconsin’s new reading education law. He spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) last month about actions that still need to be taken to ensure incoming teachers are well prepared.
Owenby is the School of Education’s associate dean for teacher education and director of the School’s Teacher Education Center, which provides leadership and support to the School of Education’s 15 teacher education programs, coordinates partnerships with local school districts, and serves as a liaison to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and other state and national partners.
According to WPR, “A sweeping bipartisan bill signed into law this summer will shift schools from what has been known as ‘balanced literacy’ to the ‘science of reading’ approach.”
“Instead of learning how to read through pictures, word cues and memorization, children will be taught using a phonics-based method that focuses on sounding out letters and phrases, with the hope of addressing the state’s lagging reading scores,” the article said.
Teachers who are not specifically trained for this style of teaching will not be eligible for a license starting in 2026.
“We are currently collaborating with K-12 partners to ensure that our teacher education students have opportunities to teach literacy and receive feedback on their practices multiple times during their preparation program,” Owenby told WPR.
Owenby adds that UW–Madison’s School of Education is in the process of reworking its “syllabi, coursework, and fieldwork” to account for this change in literacy education, and is currently waiting for further direction from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Read the full WPR story here.