Teachers voice concern over required literacy training, balky launch

When Fieler Elementary teacher Jacqueline Hoots learned she needed a new literacy endorsement to renew her teaching license, she decided to sign up for the 80-hour training right away. Other teachers joined her.

Or they tried.

“We couldn’t get on the website, it kept crashing,” said Hoots, who teaches third grade at the Merrillville school.

In March, the Indiana Department of Education alerted teachers to the literacy training requirement, telling pre-K to grade 6 and special education teachers they must be trained in the science of reading to renew their license.

There’s also a required exam at the end of the training teachers must pass along with the 40 hours of online training and 40 hours of individual work through third-party provider Keys to Literacy.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a law requiring the training, a year after they joined more than 30 states in requiring schools to teach the science of reading. The curriculum is based on phonics and phonemic awareness so students learn to identify sounds that make up a word.

Educators don’t quibble with the need to improve literacy, but they say they’re baffled by the confusing rollout, lack of details and high stakes test.

Both the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Federation of Teachers plan to voice their worries at the May 8 State Board of Education meeting in Indianapolis.

Statewide reading exam results last year showed nearly one in five Indiana students is unable to read by the end of third grade.

Teachers are eligible for a $1,200 stipend for the training and the state is covering the cost of the PRAXIS exam, but the test is creating anxiety.

“I don’t know what will happen if we fai