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Case Study

Lead in Literacy Case Study: Aligning Teacher Candidate Preparation and Mentor Support Experiences

May 12, 2025
Document titled "Lead in Literacy Case Study" with text discussing teacher preparation and mentor support in literacy programs.

To support strong early literacy educator preparation in our state, Tennessee Technological University (TN Tech) and the Putnam County School System (PCSS) have partnered through the Lead in Literacy network to strengthen TN Tech’s educator preparation program (EPP). This EPP-district partnership is constructing a shared vision for literacy instruction and revising undergraduate literacy coursework methods to bolster skills around the science of reading and high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). This case study outlines their work to date.

The study highlights a new structured mentorship and training framework, the Spears-Braisted BRIDGE Framework, to guide the work. 

This case study, provides EPP-district teams with:

  • Detailed steps to take as an EPP-district partnership to deepen alignment between early literacy coursework, a district’s vision for excellent literacy instruction and materials, and preservice teacher experiences in classrooms
  • Tools and resources EPP-district partnerships can use to revise literacy coursework and plan for aligned classroom practicum experiences for preservice teachers
  • Approaches to measuring the impact of pilot efforts in early literacy settings that focus on revising preservice and mentor teacher support models