Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation (National Council on Teacher Quality, June 2026)

A recent report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) evaluates how well university-based teacher education programs prepare candidates to teach reading, but the report itself fails to meet the scientific research standards it ostensibly expects of those programs.

Elena Aydarova of the University of Wisconsin-Madison reviewed Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, and she concludes that its claims don’t withstand scrutiny. She found unsubstantiated assertions about how reading should be taught and what policymakers should do in response, while failing to incorporate current research evidence and relying on flawed methodology.

Professor Aydarova also identifies apparent conflicts of interest, noting that NCTQ repeatedly directs readers to products and services offered by members of its own technical and advisory panels.

According to Professor Aydarova, the report narrows conceptions of reading instruction, promotes the de-professionalization of teacher educators, and undermines academic freedom in higher education. Rather than providing a rigorous, evidence-based assessment of reading teacher preparation, she concludes, the report functions more as an ideological critique of university-based teacher education programs.

Professor Aydarova urges policymakers, journalists, and education leaders to approach the report’s findings and recommendations with significant caution.

Find the review, written by Elena Aydarova, at:
https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/reading-prep

Find Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, written by Christie Ellis, Ron Noble, Graham Drake, and Heather Peske, and published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, at: https://teacherquality.nctq.org/review/standard/Reading-Foundations/2026

NEPC Reviews (https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: http://www.greatlakescenter.org

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. NEPC publications are written in accessible language and are intended for a broad audience that includes academic experts, policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our mission is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence and support a multiracial society that is inclusive, kind, and just. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu