More Licensed Reading Teachers Available to Indiana Schools
Many of the 11,276 teachers who received Indiana reading endorsements from 1965 to 1999 have retired or will soon retire. It won’t be easy for middle grades schools to replace retiring baby boom reading teachers with their reading endorsements and many years of professional development provided by schools, colleges and universities, and professional organizations. But the good news from the Division of Professional Standards, Indiana Department of Education is that Indiana colleges and universities are currently producing many new and highly skilled reading teachers.
This is evidenced by the 28.8 percent increase of reading licenses issued from August 2008 to August 2009. During the past year, 343 new reading licenses were earned in Indiana colleges and universities. Of this total, 1,262 or 82.2 percent were from colleges and universities located in Educational Service Center Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9.
