PRESS RELEASE:
Maryland READS Statement on NCTQ’s 2026 Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation
Download the PDF press release HERE
Progress is real. The crisis is not over. Teacher preparation is a root cause we can no longer afford to ignore.
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Momentum Is Real — and So Is the Unfinished Work
Maryland READS welcomes NCTQ’s 2026 Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation as a critical accountability tool and a reminder that the work of addressing Maryland’s reading crisis demands urgency at every level — including inside our colleges and universities.
Nationally, the share of teacher preparation programs fully aligned to the science of reading has doubled since 2023. That is real progress, and it reflects the advocacy, policy work, and community pressure of thousands of people who refused to accept the status quo. At Maryland READS, we know how hard that progress is to win — and we celebrate it.
But nationally, nearly half of programs still fall short. And in Maryland, too many programs remain stuck.
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We Have Been Forced Into Crisis Mode — and Higher Ed Has Held the Door Open
NCTQ puts it plainly: literacy reforms that fail to address teacher preparation keep school districts in an endless, costly loop of retraining teachers once they are already in the classroom — while their students miss out on learning to read. We could not agree more.
Maryland READS has watched this loop play out for years. School districts across our state are spending millions to retrain teachers after the fact — resources that should be reaching students directly. Meanwhile, too many of our higher education institutions have sat on the sidelines, moving slowly or not at all, even as the evidence has grown clearer and the need more urgent.
We can no longer treat teacher preparation as someone else’s problem. It is a root cause of Maryland’s literacy crisis — and it is time for our higher education institutions to own that.
“We have a pointed question for the leaders of our higher education institutions: Why should state policymakers have to force this? Where is your own urgency?”— Maryland READS
Yes, we can call on Governor Moore, the Maryland State Board of Education, and the Maryland Higher Education Commission to use every policy and fiscal lever at their disposal. And we do. But it is deeply troubling that the burden falls so heavily on state government to compel institutions of higher education to simply prepare teachers well. These are institutions entrusted with the professional formation of the people who will teach our children to read. That responsibility should not require a mandate to take seriously.
And to those programs not yet reflected in this report: if you are making improvements that NCTQ has not captured, we want to hear from you. Tell your story. Show your work. The communities you serve deserve transparency.
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Maryland’s 2026 Report Card: Progress Worth Acknowledging, Gaps That Demand Answers
Maryland READS acknowledges and celebrates real improvement among several of our state’s institutions. The grade changes from 2023 to 2026 tell a meaningful story:
| Institution | 2023 Grade | 2026 Grade |
| Bowie State University | F | C |
| Coppin State University | F | F |
| Frostburg State University | F (UG) / F (G) | C (UG) / F (G) |
| Hood College | F | A ⭐ |
| McDaniel College | A | B |
| Morgan State University | C | B |
| Salisbury University | B | A |
| St. Mary’s College of Maryland | F | F |
| Towson University | B (UG) / F (G) | B (UG) / F (G) |
| UMBC | F | F |
| University of Maryland – College Park | C (UG) / F (G) | C (UG) / B (G) |
What is happening at Hood College? ⭐
Moving from an F in 2023 to an A in 2026 is remarkable — and it is not an accident. It is the result of deliberate, urgent action by institutional leaders who decided that preparing teachers well was a priority worth acting on. Hood College has demonstrated what is possible when a higher education institution moves with intention. We want to understand exactly what they changed, how they changed it, and how those lessons can travel to every institution in Maryland that is still falling short.
We also congratulate Bowie State University, Frostburg State University’s undergraduate program, Morgan State University, Salisbury University, and the University of Maryland – College Park’s graduate program for measurable improvement. This is hard work, and it matters.
At the same time, we cannot overlook that Coppin State, St. Mary’s College, and UMBC all remain at F — unchanged from 2023. Every year these programs stay misaligned is another cohort of teachers entering Maryland classrooms unprepared. That is not acceptable.
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On the Data: Don’t Lower the Bar
A note on how we read the numbers: NCTQ’s report references that 59% of Maryland’s 4th grade students read at a basic level or above. We appreciate the nuance NCTQ brings to this data — and we want to be clear about where Maryland READS stands.
Only 33% of Maryland’s 4th graders are actually reading at grade level — at proficiency. Basic is not the goal. We should not be measuring our progress against a floor. Maryland READS will keep the conversation focused where it belongs: on proficiency, on full literacy, on what children actually need to thrive in school and in life.
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The Details Matter: Maryland’s Diverse Learners Cannot Be an Afterthought
Maryland is the fourth most diverse state in the nation. That is not incidental context — it is a core design constraint for how we prepare teachers. And the data in this report should stop every one of our higher education leaders cold.
57% of Maryland programs devote fewer than two hours of instructional time to supporting English learners in reading.
79% of Maryland programs devote fewer than two hours to supporting speakers of English language varieties — a group that includes a substantial portion of Black students who speak African American English.
57% of Maryland programs devote fewer than two instructional hours to supporting struggling readers, including students with dyslexia.
In a state where our collective leadership is uniting to address our reading crisis, these numbers are unconscionable. Teachers must not only know how to teach reading — they must be prepared to meet every student in their classroom. That means English learners. That means struggling readers. That means students who come to school speaking a language variety other than General American English. Preparation programs that skip this preparation are not adequately preparing teachers. Full stop.
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Resources
Maryland READS calls on:
- Higher education leaders: to act without waiting for a mandate. Examine your programs against this data. Make the changes. If you have already made changes, say so publicly.
- Maryland’s Governor and General Assembly: to use every policy and fiscal lever available — program approval processes, licensure standards, funding accountability — to ensure that teacher preparation programs in Maryland are fully aligned to the science of reading and prepared to serve all learners.
- The Maryland State Board of Education and MSDE: to be explicit and persistent in connecting reading reform to teacher preparation, and to use the bully pulpit to hold higher education accountable as a partner in this work.
- The Maryland Higher Education Commission: to incorporate reading preparation quality into its program approval and renewal processes.
Hood College has shown us that an F can become an A in three years. There is no excuse for any Maryland institution to still be at the bottom of this table.
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Resources
NCTQ 2026 Report: teacherquality.nctq.org/review/standard/Reading-Foundations/2026
Maryland-Specific Profile: nctq.org — Maryland Reading Foundations Profile
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About Maryland READS
Maryland READS is a nonprofit organization working to end Maryland’s reading crisis by advancing evidence-based literacy policy, building community capacity, and driving systemic change. Through the READ Strong Network, Maryland READS partners with families, educators, community organizations, and elected officials in counties across Maryland to ensure every child learns to read.
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