A comparison of the reading abilities of teacher candidates

The academic ability of teacher candidates has been a subject of research for decades. Reading ability is an indicator of overall academic ability and can be measured throughout a students college career. This study reports the analysis of scores on a standardized test of reading ability for 868 teacher candidates in three different 4‐year universities. Findings indicate significant differences when reading vocabulary scores were compared for gender. No significant differences in comprehension, vocabulary, or reading rate were found for university classification, choice of education major, and whether the student attended a private or public university.