Reflections on the First Provision of the Virginia Literacy Act
Citation (APA 7th): Cantrell, J. (2026). Reflections on the first provision of the Virginia Literacy Act. The Teacher Educators’ Journal, 19, 35-54. https://doi.org/10.66196/ZRAT1227
R. Jeffrey Cantrell
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Abstract
In this article, I examine the first provision of the recently implemented Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) for two purposes: (a) to examine the Science of Reading (SoR) movement that is offered as support for the necessity for the legislation, and (b) to examine the assumption that teacher candidates in Virginia have not been demonstrating mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction through coursework and examinations. Discussion includes consideration of some of the theoretical foundations for SoR and a brief history of the instructional implications relating to these theoretical perspectives about the learning to read process, including discussion of the SoR and research on phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. The article concludes on a personal note as I share my experience as a teacher educator in Virginia with the National Council of Teacher Quality review process.
