That Rope Is Heavy As All Get Out and Still Not Thick Enough: Black Candidates’ Responses to SoR (Science of Reading) Training and Tutoring

• In Event: Yes, Race Continues to Matter in Constructing Equitable Outcomes in Education

Abstract

This presentation provides insight regarding the perceptions of teaching reading for 32 Black teacher candidates in their junior year in a traditional elementary education program at a HBCU. Candidates received a 20-hour reading training in the Science of Reading and an aligned 20-hour one-on-one tutoring practicum experience with a struggling 1st grade reader. The emergence of three themes evolved which includes1) feelings about teaching reading; 2) shortcomings of the Reading Rope; and 3) Challenges of enacting the training. This research is significant because it highlights the perceptions of Black teacher candidates, a population under-explored and studied, while also offering qualitative insights about code-based training for undergraduate teacher candidates.

Author

• Simone Gibson, Morgan State University