An exploration of professional knowledge needed for reading and responding to student writing
Abstract
This study explored the knowledge elementary teachers need for one core practice: reading and responding to students’ writing. Forty-five preservice teachers read and responded to an elementary student’s narrative writing sample. Using teacher noticing as a framework, we first decomposed the practice into five components indicative of differences in teachers’ attention to writing features, reasoning about those features, and suggested responses. We used multiple correspondence analyses to investigate potential underlying relationships among components and developed cases to highlight one underlying relationship that was found. The findings indicate reading and responding draws upon teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. More specifically, it draws on both knowledge of content and students and knowledge of content and teaching.
Reference
Ballock, E., McQuitty, V., & McNary, S. (2018). An exploration of professional knowledge needed for reading and responding to student writing. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(1), 56-68. DOI: 10.1177/0022487117702576
Journal
Journal of Teacher Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- undergraduate preservice teachers
Preservice Sample Size
45
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
Data Analysis Tools
- Multiple Correspondence Analysis
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
"...what if any, relationship exists among the various components of reading and responding to student writing and what such a relationship might tell us about the professional knowledge or skill the practice requires and how it might best be decomposed so preservice teachers can learn it."
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes