Springfield College Joins Efforts to Train Teachers, Empower Young Readers

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield College and its local K-12 school district and college partners will share $380,000 in state grant funding to support teacher development, specifically to give teachers access to evidence-based literacy instruction.

The Healey-Driscoll administration recently awarded a total of $800,000 in grants to 17 school districts and 14 colleges to promote the evidence-based early literacy instructional skills of prospective and existing teachers.

Springfield College is a partner with local public school districts and colleges in two consortia: the Early Literacy Consortium (ELC) and the Western Massachusetts Literacy Collaborative (WMLC), both of which will use the funding to make sure teachers are well-prepared to teach evidence-based early literacy and help students develop critical reading and writing skills.

The ELC has three main priorities: improve teacher preparation, enhance classroom practices, and improve student outcomes. The WMLC consortium features the Summer Learn & Earn Program, in which the college and Springfield Public Schools select current undergraduate or graduate education majors to participate in a free graduate course offered through Elms College and work in WMLC districts as literacy intervention teachers during summer school.

For Springfield College, Valerie Annear, director of Educator Preparation and Licensure, and Mark McCarthy, associate professor of Literacy Education and chair of the Department of Education, attend all meetings, participate in decision making on grant activities, and distribute both resources and training opportunities to the college’s faculty and teacher candidate supervisors.

“Springfield College is excited to be part of both early literacy consortia, which allows us to collaborate meaningfully with local districts while preparing our educator candidates to implement evidence-based early literacy practices,” Annear said. “These partnerships not only strengthen teacher preparation, but also expand access to high-quality, culturally responsive literacy instruction for PK-8 students across Western Massachusetts. This work aligns well with Springfield College’s humanics philosophy.”

Added McCarthy, “the governor has prioritized maintaining Massachusetts’ standing as an education leader with additional focus on literacy. Success in our schools requires a strong foundation in reading to then go on to learn other content. We at Springfield College have been striving to evolve our programming, especially in literacy, to better align with the realities of PK-12 schools and, as such, have sought out these consortia partnerships to ensure we are preparing the teacher candidates who are ready to serve students.”