DAYTON, Ohio — The University of Dayton’s undergraduate teaching preparation program is being recognized by the National Council on Teach Quality as one of the best in the nation when it comes to understanding literacy and the science of reading.

This comes as interest in the teaching profession has fallen 50% since the 1990s.

What You Need To Know

  • The University of Dayton's teaching program receives A+ ranking

  • Students prepared to teach Pre-K to 5th grade

  • UD program enrollment numbers high

  • Students observe in classrooms for all four years

“Our enrollments have been very steady and I’m not at all surprised. We have people coming from all over the region, out of state, everywhere to try and get our teachers to come to their schools because we have such well-prepared teacher education students,” said Dr. Alison Carr-Chellman with the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Health Sciences Department.

The University’s department earned an A+ rating and is among just 48 other programs across the country, and four in Ohio, highlighted for going above and beyond.

The recognition is something both faculty and students are excited about.

Kendall Kiss is getting ready to start her senior year and will be student teaching in the Fall.

“It’s super rewarding on top of being fun. Every day it’s something new. The kids really keep you on your toes for sure,” she said.

Kiss spends a lot of time inside the teaching department’s materials center to help prepare.

From toddlers to older children, there are a lot of resources and even more to learn.

In a few months, she’ll be working with second graders.

Her earliest inspiration was from her grandmother who was an English teacher, but learning the day-to-day ins and outs of the profession all happens at school.

“We have done a lot of shadowing in different classrooms, learning from a lot of different teachers in a lot of different grades,” Kiss said.

The A+ distinction shows the program is on the right track.

“It indicates that we are teaching the five pillars of reading instruction, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension in a very comprehensive way with many opportunities for practice,” said Associate Professor Mary-Kate Sableski.

While observing in the classroom within the first year is common, at UD, students sit in classrooms for all four years with a faculty member by their side to discuss what works and what doesn’t.

“We make sure they have all kinds of diverse experiences throughout their program to be in different classrooms at different age levels and always thinking about, ‘Here’s what I might do at a kindergarten level, but how might I adjust and make it work at a fifth-grade level?'” said Associate Professor Jackie Arnold.

“Our licensure is from Pre-K to 5th so that is a big age range but I feel like now I have all the tools I need to teach younger grades and older grades just from the classes I’ve taken here,” Kiss said.

As Kiss finalizes what she’ll need for the upcoming school year, she feels not only confident in herself, but her career and how it will make a difference.

“Not only teaching them with academics but how to be their own person and teaching them how to go out into the word and share who they are with other people. There’s no other profession that gets to do that and it’s super rewarding,” she said.

Other Ohio programs earning A’s in the National Council on Teacher Quality review include Marietta College, Mount St. Joseph University, Ohio University, University of Findlay, University of Rio Grande, and Youngstown State University.