West Chester University's elementary education program fell from a B to an F in three years on a national assessment of how well it prepares future teachers to teach reading, according to a June 9 report from the National Council on Teacher Quality.

The grade puts WCU, one of Pennsylvania's largest producers of new teachers and a historic pipeline for area school districts including West Chester Area School District, among the worst-performing programs in the state for reading instruction. The WCHE 95.3 FM podcast "Hello West Chester" brought the issue back to local attention on Monday, August 3, under the headline "West Chester University is Failing Future Teachers."

NCTQ's 2026 Teacher Prep Review, titled "Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation," evaluated programs on five core components of scientifically based reading instruction: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness. WCU's program fell short in four of the five areas, according to the report.

The decline is stark against national trends.

Nationally, 53% of programs earned an A in 2026, up from 26% in 2023. In Pennsylvania, five of 23 evaluated programs received A's and five received F's. Other Pennsylvania programs that earned F's include Cheyney University, Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, Lincoln University, and Widener University's graduate education program.

WCU says it wasn't asked to participate

WCU spokesperson Nancy Gainer told the Philadelphia Inquirer on June 13 that the university complied with an "open source request" from NCTQ in 2023 and received a B, but did not receive such a request this cycle and did not supply information. NCTQ countered that it submitted a formal records request to West Chester.

Ron Noble, NCTQ's director of teacher preparation, identified WCU as one of Pennsylvania's four largest teacher prep programs. In a June 13 interview with the Inquirer, Noble said the poor performance of the state's biggest programs is "even more concerning" because "the places producing many of Pennsylvania's newest teachers are either a black box for us or did not perform well."

What it means locally

WCU was founded as a teachers college, and its College of Education and Social Work places student teachers in area districts including WCASD through formal agreements. The university's CAEP accreditation, which is the formal credential for its educator preparation programs, remains active and is unaffected by the NCTQ grade. The NCTQ review is a non-governmental assessment, not a state or accreditation action.

Pennsylvania required structured literacy competencies in teacher preparation programs in 2022, but the state does not set requirements for the number of courses or hours of instruction. The state's certification exam for new teachers has not been aligned with the science of reading and still includes questions on three-cueing, a practice Pennsylvania has banned.

WCU's own graduate survey found 95.6% of teacher prep graduates rated their program as effective. No WCU response beyond Gainer's June 13 statement has been identified, and no scheduled board meeting or program review addressing the findings has been announced.

Separately, WCU's PK-4 Teacher Preparation Certification program is no longer accepting new applicants. The Middle Grades 4-8 Teacher Certification will stop accepting new applicants after fall 2026, reflecting the Pennsylvania Department of Education's decision to discontinue that certification as of January 2028.