The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to discover the pathways taken by two participants as they became developmental reading instructors in higher education in Oregon. What qualified them as teachers of developmental reading in higher education? A review of the literature resulted in no research journal articles on the topics of training, preparation, or credentialing of developmental reading teachers in higher education. With no published research discovered, narrative inquiry presented an appropriate method to begin to gather and analyze data. Two developmental reading teachers from community colleges in Oregon were selected to record their stories in interviews and to create a written timeline to show the journey of their careers. As their stories were analyzed, four categories emerged: How they started their professional lives; how they discovered developmental reading as a career choice; how they see their positions in the present; and how they envision the future of their careers. Each participant began her professional life outside of developmental reading for college students, and only learned about it as a career option while pursuing something else. They each pursued professional development, one through formal university courses, and one through professional organizations. Both remain committed to teaching developmental reading in community college, and shared ideas regarding the future of the discipline.
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