Cato College adds NCTQ A+ rating to growing list of literacy excellence marks

Last week, the National Council on Teacher Quality released its 2026 report, Teacher Prep Review: Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation, ranking institutions on their integration of evidence-based literacy education practices into elementary teacher preparation programs. UNC Charlotte is one of only three North Carolina institutions where both undergraduate and graduate programs received A+ rankings, alongside UNC Greensboro and NC State University.

According to NCTQ’s reported methodologies, to earn an “A,” programs needed to demonstrate that coursework for future elementary teachers includes all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction and avoid teaching more than three instructional methods that are unsupported by the research on effective reading instruction. To earn an A+, programs needed to exceed those targets and not teach any instructional practices that are unsupported by research.

Scores have risen across the nation in higher education institutions, but according to NCTQ, it’s still just over half that are aligned to scientifically-based reading instruction. NCTQ Heather Peske shared, “Across the country, many teacher preparation programs still do not fully align with the science of reading, but University of North Carolina at Charlotte is demonstrating what strong preparation can look like.”

This is the latest in a litany of strong validations for Cato College’s literacy education training, which reach far beyond just the elementary teacher preparation bachelor’s and MAT programs. The Mebane Early Literacy Center, funded by a generous gift from the Mebane Charitable Foundation, begins its fourth year at Charlotte with nearly 30 Mebane Scholar alumni and 20 more in this year’s class, two webinar series translating research to practice for over 500 educators across the world, and multiple community-led resources to support the greater Charlotte community in bringing literacy out of the confines of the classroom and into the fabric of every child’s life.

The Mebane gift came around the same time that Cato College was the only education program in the UNC System given a “Strong” rating by a Board of Governors report. Even as the top-rated institution, UNC Charlotte did not let up in its pursuit of excellence. Research teams in Cato College have continued to produce strong work, like Project READS, and new hires like Spangler Distinguished Professor of Early Child Literacy Kelly Cartwright have added to the top notch team instructing EduNiners that make up 20% of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools instructional staff and teach children in 95 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.