Exploration of the contribution of teachers’ knowledge about reading to their students’ improvement in reading

Recent studies of elementary teachers’ knowledge about reading have been built on the premise that teachers need thorough knowledge about language and reading processes, but these studies have provided only limited evidence that teachers’ performance on tests of such knowledge contributes to their students’ reading achievement. The present study was designed to examine the contribution of first- through third-grade teachers’ knowledge about early reading to their students’ improvement on tests of word analysis and reading comprehension, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics of students, their prior reading achievement, and teachers’ educational attainment, professional experiences, and socio-demographic characteristics. Preliminary analyses indicated that the test of teachers’ knowledge had adequate psychometric characteristics. However, performance on this measure of teachers’ knowledge did not significantly explain students’ improvement on the two reading subtests. The complexity of the factors that influence teachers’ knowledge acquisition and the context in which the study was carried out offer possible explanations for these results. In addition, teachers’ content knowledge about reading might not be closely associated with the practices they use in reading instruction, and therefore might not be significantly related to their students’ improvement in reading over a year.

Pre-service teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about multiculturalism

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.     

Measuring teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary development and instruction

This article describes the development of an instrument to measure teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary development and instruction, the Teacher Knowledge of Vocabulary Survey (TKVS). This type of knowledge has become increasingly important as all classroom teachers are expected to help students meet language and literacy standards that include vocabulary acquisition. While a few studies have measured teacher knowledge of reading, there are no known instruments for measuring teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary development and instruction. However, vocabulary is a crucial determinant of reading comprehension and content area knowledge, particularly for English learners (Graves, August, & Mancilla-Martinez, 2013). Statements about vocabulary development and instruction were gathered from foundational texts, reviewed by subject matter experts, and researched in cognitive labs for possible inclusion as items in the TKVS. The survey’s 52 statements comprise 6 categories, including one section on vocabulary development, four sections on instruction, and one section on instruction specifically for English learners. Ratings of item difficulty by subject matter experts were then used to distinguish three levels of teacher knowledge of vocabulary: emergent, intermediate, and expert. Fifty teachers completed the TKVS, and their performance was found to correlate with the experts’ predicted difficulties of the items. Initial analyses provide evidence for the content and construct validity of the TKVS as a measure of teacher knowledge of vocabulary development and effective instruction. The discussion considers implications for the use of the instrument, including as a needs assessment or guide for professional development for both preservice and inservice teachers.     

Measuring teachers’ content knowledge of language and reading

In the context of a longitudinal, four-year study of reading instruction in low-performing, high-poverty urban schools, we surveyed teacher knowledge of reading-related concepts, and established a modest predictive relationship between teachers’ knowledge, classroom reading achievement levels, and teachers’ observed teaching competence. There were significant associations among these variables at the third and fourth grade levels. To obtain this result, measures of teacher content knowledge in language and reading were refined in a three-stage process. Our purpose was to explore the type and level of questions that would begin to discriminate more capable from less capable teachers, and that would have a predictive relationship with student reading achievement outcomes. After experimenting with measurement of K-2 teachers’ content knowledge (Form #1), we piloted a Teacher Knowledge Survey with 41 second and third grade teachers in one study site (Form #2). We then refined and expanded the Survey (Form #3) and administered it to 103 third and fourth grade teachers in both project sites. Teachers’ misconceptions about sounds, words, sentences, and principles of instruction were pinpointed so that professional development could address teachers’ needs for insight and information about language structure and student learning.     

Early childhood educators’ perceived and actual metalinguistic knowledge,beliefs and enacted practice about teaching early reading

There is a nascent movement towards evidence-based practice in education in Australia, evident in Federal and State education documents, if not in classrooms. Such a classroom-level outcome would require a number of conditions to be met. One of the critical requirements is that teachers be provided with knowledge and training in practices that have an acceptable evidence base, in other words to know what works. Many reformers pin their hopes on systematic reviews to provide the information. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this expectation may not be easily met, especially in the short term. This paper considers some of the recent issues that have muddied the waters.     

Experienced teachers’ expectations about the potential effectiveness of spelling exercises

In order to investigate what issues might be important for experimental training research, a group of experienced remedial teachers was asked to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various spelling exercises. After addressing some general questions about spelling exercises for Dutch poor spellers, they made rankings of several sets of exercises on the basis of the expected effectiveness. The teachers had to give their responses based on their own experiences and with a specific child with poor spelling in mind. The results show that the teachers emphasize the importance of providing rules in spelling exercises, but also agree that poor spellers often have serious difficulties in applying these rules in spelling. Furthermore, the rankings show that exercises with a combination of rule-based strategies and showing the whole orthographic pattern of the word are considered to be most effective. Learning to memorize the word without showing the spelling of the word was considered to be the least effective. Surprisingly, individual characteristics of the children did not seem to have any influence on the ranking of the exercises. It is concluded that exploiting the experience and knowledge of teachers may be good, but is only the first step for further research on the effectiveness of exercises for poor spellers.     

Socio-cultural factors of teachers’ conceptions of knowledge: epistemic beliefs of Arab teachers

This research investigates aspects of epistemic beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers in the United Arab Emirates, and how these beliefs might be related to factors such as teachers’ gender, location (where they live), and the subject they teach (humanities vs. science). A standardized Arabic version of the Epistemic Belief Inventory was administered to a group of 35 pre-service teachers and 52 in-service teachers. The results indicated that in-service teachers had more sophisticated beliefs than pre-service teachers on Certainty of Knowledge, Omniscient Authority, and Innate Ability dimensions. Also, male teachers were found to be less sophisticated than female teachers and teachers from rural areas tended to think in a simpler way than teachers from urban areas. Although there was no main effect of subject, it significantly modified the effects of gender and location. The data showed the multidimensional nature of epistemic beliefs, and were discussed in the context of Arab/Emirati culture.     

Do students’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing predict their judgement of texts’ trustworthiness?

We examined whether epistemic beliefs predict students’ evaluation of documents. Undergraduates read two texts on climate change. Participants judged the trustworthiness of each text and then indicated the criteria for their rating. We found that readers who believe strongly in relying on personal interpretations rather than on authorities trusted both documents less and used the document’s content or their own opinion as criteria for judging trustworthiness. We also found that readers who believe that knowledge claims should be critically evaluated through logic and rules rated the science text as more trustworthy and used the criteria of their own opinion, author and content more than readers who believe in relying on their own experiences. These effects hold true while controlling for readers’ prior knowledge and text comprehensibility.     

General and special education teachers’ knowledge about reading comprehension processes and instructional practices

Reading and Writing - The study investigated teachers’ knowledge of reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction. The study was carried out among teachers...     

Does teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge affect their fluency instruction?

The relation is studied between teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of reading and the quality of their subsequent classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading. A confirmatory factor analysis model with two latent variables is tested and shows adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Contrary to our expectations, the results of structural equation modelling reveal a small but significant γ-value of .29, indicating that only 8% of the variance in teachers’ classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading is accounted for by teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of reading. Presumably teacher knowledge is not as stable and conclusive as one might think. More research is needed in determining the factors that work restricting for teachers in putting their knowledge into classroom practice. It is recommended that preservice and in-service teacher training should not be limited to transfer of knowledge, but should also assist teachers in designing and performing effective fluent reading instruction.     

Collaboration and the growth of teachers’ knowledge

Studies of teachers working together have exposed the capricious nature of collaborative activity: sometimes it seems to work well; at other times collaboration actually works against improvement. Success in collaborative relationships is best understood through an appreciation of how teachers form and use knowledge. The teachers’ knowledge perspective is used in this paper to interpret qualitative data from two successful collaborative relationships in schools. Evidence supports the contention that personal qualities, underscored by mutual trust and respect for knowledge, form the basis for successful relationships in teaching, operating in different ways, for different purposes, for different people. Providing that teachers are approached with respect, collaboration holds promise as a slow (but powerful) path towards educational change.     

Differentiated instruction: Hong Kong prospective teachers’ teaching efficacy and beliefs

Catering for learner diversity is one of the key areas in the recent educational reform in Hong Kong. Pre-service teacher education acts as a fundamental way to equip pre-service teachers ready for accommodating diverse learning needs and to build up pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. The purpose of the study is to examine prospective teachers’ teaching beliefs toward differentiated instruction and teaching efficacy. Using a sequential mixed methods design that contains a questionnaire, focus group interviews, and individual interviews, prospective teachers undertaking a 13-session course regarding differentiated instruction as offered by a local university in Hong Kong participated in the study from January to April 2013. Changes in teaching beliefs regarding differentiated instruction as well as teaching efficacy levels were found. More positive attitudes toward differentiated teaching were found; however, there existed different concerns including class management and conflicts with personal teaching beliefs. These concerns may be related to practical experiences and confidence as well as expectations upon students. Implications for future course development and research are discussed at the end of the paper.     

Examining teachers’ early writing knowledge and practices

Reading and Writing - This study examined preschool teachers’ writing knowledge and how this knowledge relates to classroom writing practices. Head Start teachers (N?=?47) across...     

Relationships between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge and students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading achievement

The study examined the relationships between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and their students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension. The study was carried out among language art teachers (N?=?34) and their students (N?=?534) in the last year of primary school (ninth grade) in Estonia. Multilevel modeling was used to test the hypotheses of relationships between students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension, while controlling for students’ previous reading comprehension (in eighth grade) as well as the relations between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and students’ metacognitive knowledge and comprehension. The results showed that students’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies related to their reading comprehension, concurring with previous findings. The main finding was that teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies significantly related to their students’ metacognitive knowledge, but not to reading comprehension. These results indicate that students’ reading comprehension may be supported by improving their metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies. In addition, the findings highlight the importance of teachers’ metacognitive knowledge in students’ metacognitive knowledge.     

Student teachers’ perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading: the implications for teacher education

This article reports on research which identified perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading held by trainee teachers and the impact on my provision as a teacher educator. It found that students’ past and present experiences of learning to read and being a reader influenced their perceptions of what reading is and of what it means to teach reading. As a teacher educator, I am not able to give students long experience of seeing children becoming readers, but I am able to give them richer experiences of reading in personally and culturally relevant contexts. This has implications for the nature of subject knowledge required by a student teacher of reading and the curriculum and practice of teacher education.     

The development of student teachers’ research knowledge,beliefs and attitude

This study reports on the development of second-year student teachers’ knowledge of research, and the changes in their beliefs and attitude regarding research during an introductory course at an institute for primary teacher education. Questionnaires and concept maps were administered before and after the course. The results showed that student teachers’ knowledge about research grew during the introductory course and that their positive beliefs about research became more positive, while their negative beliefs about research decreased. A positive change was found concerning the attractiveness of research to student teachers. Furthermore, student teachers’ self-efficacy regarding research appeared related to their beliefs and attitude: the more the student teachers were convinced of their abilities to conduct and use the results of research after the course, the more positive their beliefs and their attitude regarding research were. This study provides guidelines for institutes for teacher education on integrating research activities into their curricula, so that their student teachers develop research knowledge and positive beliefs and attitudes towards research.     

Student teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching and their participation in career-long learning activities

Career-long teacher learning is essential to the teaching profession because it is strongly connected with teacher quality and practices. Student teachers in the first stage of their career-long learning continuum, however, vary in the extent to which they participate in learning activities. This study explores the relationship between beliefs about learning and teaching and participation in learning activities among student teachers, in a school-based teacher education setting for secondary education in the Netherlands. The results indicate that student teachers vary in their beliefs. Structural equation modelling analysis shows that pupil-oriented beliefs are positively related to self-reported participation in learning activities; no relationship emerges between subject matter-oriented beliefs and learning. A cluster analysis reveals two distinct belief profiles, and the findings confirm the relationship to participation in learning activities. Implications for teacher education programmes intended to enhance the chances that their student teachers will become pupil-oriented, career-long learning professionals are discussed.