The United States' National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what the students know and can do in various subject areas. The 2024 NAEP Reading Assessment results indicated that only 31% of fourth graders in United States are proficient readers. As concerning as that statistic is, assessment results also showed that, for fourth grade students identified as having a disability, only 18% were proficient readers. Research is clear, however, that when reading is taught through a systematic, cumulative, and explicit approach all readers can learn to read and spell. Unfortunately, an area pre-service and novice teachers feel they need more support in is pedagogical knowledge specific to literacy instruction. As most students with disabilities in the United States spend their day in inclusive classrooms, the need for teachers equipped with research-based practices that align with the principles of specially designed instruction (SDI), the Science of Reading (SoR), and the High Leverage Practices (HLPs) to support students with disabilities and struggling readers is critical. In an effort to meet this need, our university center partnered with the Virginia Department of Education and the William & Mary School of Education to offer an opportunity for pre-service special education teachers to be trained in Orton-Gillingham, a multisensory, structured literacy approach to teaching the fundamental five pillars of literacy to students with a reading disability and struggling readers. Selected pre-service teachers participated in a week-long, state-sponsored Orton-Gillingham training and received year-long coaching and support during implementation in their field placements. The cohort was also placed with cooperating teachers trained in Structured Literacy, further strengthening support during implementation. The goal was to better equip pre-service teachers to teach all students as they enter into full-time teaching. Data was collected using pre- and post-assessments on pre-service teacher's literacy knowledge before and after the week-long intensive training, classroom observations and coaching, and interviews at the end of implementation. This paper will discuss the processes and promising results of this year-long initiative so that educators who support pre-service teachers can implement a similar model in their context. The crosswalk between SDI, the HLPs, and the SoR, and the impact on teacher literacy knowledge and self-efficacy will also be discussed.

Keywords: Multi-sensory, pre-service, Orton-Gillingham, high-leverage practices, specially designed instruction, science of reading, literacy.