Rebecca Rogers, Curators’ Distinguished Research Professor and E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Tutorial Education, reads with students at Woerner Elementary School in St. Louis. Rogers was working with students as part of UMSL’s New Leaf Literacies initiative, a three-week program that integrated hands-on lessons about gardening and the environment with responsive, project-based literacy education. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)
The College of Education at the University of Missouri–St. Louis has been a leader in literacy education and research at local, regional and national levels for more than a decade.
The university’s literacy faculty members added another accolade to their long list of achievements last month when the International Literacy Association awarded UMSL National Recognition for its exemplary work preparing literacy professionals. The university was just one of seven higher education institutions across the country to be recognized.
“We are very proud of the ongoing improvement efforts that we take as a team to ensure that future teachers leave UMSL with the knowledge, skills and dispositions they need to grow competent and confident literacy learners,” said Katie O’Daniels, associate teaching professor and director of the Gateway Writing Project. “What is particularly noteworthy about the ILA recognition is the rigorous review process that took place in order to earn this distinction. ILA was interested in learning about the unique context of our entire teacher education program curriculum. This allowed us to demonstrate how literacy teacher preparation is addressed in various ways program wide, not just in one or two courses.”
Rebecca Rogers, Curators’ Distinguished Research Professor and E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Tutorial Education, said the award elevates and advances UMSL’s teacher preparation program as well as its alumni, faculty, students and staff.
“The International Literacy Association recognition acknowledges our strong coursework and also the integration of supervised clinical experiences where candidates learn to assess, teach and reflect with students in partnership schools, community centers and in our online literacy clinics,” Rogers said. “This strengthens teacher candidates’ ability to implement the sciences of reading and literacy into practice in ways that address the pressing need in our region to provide supplemental literacy tutoring to students who are not yet reading on grade level.”
UMSL was recognized specifically for its excellence in preparing elementary and intermediate classroom teachers, along with the University of Missouri–Columbia and New Jersey City University. ILA also honored Bridgewater State University, the University of Central Florida, Clemson University and the University of Colorado Denver.
Higher education institutions seeking National Recognition face rigorous evaluation by ILA. The process entails an assessment by independent reviewers to see how well each program aligns with the organization’s Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals.
O’Daniels, Rogers and Associate Teaching Professor Martille Elias authored UMSL’s self-study. The report included not only course syllabi but also course assignments, rubrics and evidence of UMSL’s alignment with ILA’s standards. O’Daniels said UMSL’s spiraling curriculum is one thing that helped set it apart.
“While there are a few core courses that are specifically literacy focused, candidates begin learning about the basic concepts of effective teaching in their initial teacher education program courses,” she said. “That allows us to then add discipline-specific pedagogies to their tool kit when they get to their literacy methods courses. They are also learning about literacy development and pedagogy in their special education courses and their TESOL courses, both of which are provided as dual-certification routes for candidates.”
A variety of hands-on experiences also distinguished UMSL’s program.
“I would say that the literacy team is most proud of our clinically rich teacher preparation,” O’Daniels said. “In two of the core literacy courses, candidates have supervised clinical experiences in which they work directly with elementary-aged learners to apply what they are learning in their UMSL classrooms. This is definitely a hallmark of our literacy teacher preparation efforts.”
In addition to the ILA award, UMSL’s literacy faculty members have raised the profile of the university through their scholarship and also garnered significant funding that has positively impacted the St. Louis region.
Elias, O’Daniels and Rogers as well as Associate Professor Shea Kerkhoff and Assistant Professor Jiadi Zhang are all active in leading professional organizations, including the ILA, National Council of Teachers of English and the Literacy Research Association.
The literacy team’s work encompasses many areas of research as well as initiatives such as the UMSL Literacy Clinic, the Gateway Writing Project, New Leaf Literacies and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development and Missouri Early Literacy Fellows programs.
In 2020, Kerkhoff, O’Daniels and Professor Natalie Singer secured $5.1 million from DESE to promote evidence-based literacy strategies in Missouri schools and create online literacy resources as part of the Comprehensive Literacy State Development program. In 2024, the trio once again secured $5.1 million in funding to continue and expand that work in the program’s second cohort.
The funding has allowed UMSL to build a full-time literacy team, including staff members Tracy Brosch, Diana Hammond and Jasmin Easterling as well as graduate research assistants Leslie Hamm and Astri Napitupulu. Their work on projects aimed at Missouri educators has touched 40 schools and approximately 35,000 children in metropolitan St. Louis as well as the Greenville, Potosi and Williamsville areas.
The latest award from the ILA is a welcome endorsement of the literacy team’s rigorous standards, but it’s also fuel to continue strengthening its efforts.
“It is rewarding to know that we have the recognition of the International Literacy Association, an organization that is well-respected in the field with 70 years of experience in promoting literacy education,” O’Daniels said. “That said, the work does not stop. We will continue to strive for ongoing program improvement because ensuring that children have access to excellent teachers who accelerate literacy achievement for and with their students is a priority of our entire UMSL literacy team.”
