Perceptions and Knowledge of Preservice and Inservice Teachers About Early Literacy Instruction
Abstract
A major conclusion from the last decade of research on children with poor reading performance is that early, systematic instruction in phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondences improves early reading and spelling skills and results in a reduction of the number of students who are reading below grade level. To teach reading to at-risk students and students with learning disabilities, teachers need to have positive perceptions regarding the role of systematic, explicit instruction, as well as knowledge of English language structure. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and knowledge of general educators at two professional levels toward early literacy instruction for students at risk for reading failure. Unfortunately, our findings are similar to those obtained by Moats in 1994: Many general education teachers, at both preservice and inservice levels, are not prepared adequately for this challenging task.
Reference
Mather, N., Bos, C., & Babur, N. (2001). Perceptions and knowledge of preservice and inservice teachers about early literacy instruction. Journal of learning disabilities, 34(5), 472-482.
Journal
Journal of Learning Disabilities
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
- Southwestern United States
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
293
Other Participant Data
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Teacher Knowledge Assessment- Structure of Language (Mather, Bos & Babur, 2001)
- Teacher Knowledge Assessment: Structure of Language (TKA: SL)
Data Analysis Tools
- ANOVA
- Descriptive statistics
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
Would PT and inservice teachers believe that: (p. 473)
Phonemic awareness play an important role in reading development and reading failure;
Beginning readers need to be able to segment words into phonemes (speech sounds) and blend phonemes into words; and,
The ability to recognize words accurately and easily is essential for rapid decoding?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
Would these teachers be knowledgeable about language structure and be able to apply this knowledge to tasks such as counting the number of syllables and phonemes within words?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes