Teachers' knowledge is a critical component to students learning to read proficiently. The present research sought to determine the literacy knowledge of 150 urban, elementary school teachers from 11 low socio-economic schools in one of nation's largest cities. Teachers' ability to understand concepts relating to phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle/phonics, and morphology as well as their knowledge about teaching these fundamental skills were assessed through a standardized measure. Using exploratory factor analysis to understand the latent constructs underlying the survey scores and hierarchical linear modelling on factor scores of each construct, the results revealed that teachers located in low socio-economic status schools did not have explicit knowledge needed to effectively teach struggling readers. Although the teachers possessed a high level of knowledge regarding syllable counting skills, they lacked knowledge related to morphology. Practical implications are provided to assist teachers in increasing their literacy knowledge.
Oral reading fluency (ORF) deficits are a hallmark of reading difficulties. The impact of fluency struggles extends beyond word-level difficulties to include deficits in reading comprehension. Sixteen empirical studies conducted in 2000–2019 that examined ORF interventions among elementary students identified as having reading difficulties were reviewed to identify the characteristics (e.g., instructional variables, group size, type of interventionist) of effective ORF interventions and their impact on English oral reading fluency and reading comprehension outcomes. The systematic review revealed that interventions reported centered around repeated reading procedures (86.5%). Across the 16 studies, outcomes for oral reading fluency varied widely and most focused on speed and rate aspects rather than prosody. Effect sizes for rate and accuracy measures ranged from negligible to large (i.e., 0.01 to 1.18) and three studies found large effects for prosody outcomes. Effect sizes for reading comprehension ranged between non-significant and large significant effects. Findings support the use of repeated reading of text to build up ORF of students with reading difficulties. Interventions that were found to be most effective were those that were conducted one-on-one with a trained model of fluent word reading and accuracy. Findings also point to three gaps in our understanding: (1) the efficacy of interventions other than repeated reading, (2) effects of ORF interventions on prosody outcomes, and (3) sustainability of outcomes.
Equipping elementary (i.e., grades K-5) teachers with adequate content and pedagogical knowledge to promote effective reading instruction based on the science of reading is a crucial piece of the reading education puzzle. We reviewed 20 empirical studies to examine the impact of teacher preparation and training programs on elementary teachers' knowledge of the science of reading, focusing on the foundational pillars of reading instruction, namely, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphological awareness, as well as student outcomes in reading. We also identified program characteristics that promoted positive growth in teacher knowledge. Generally, findings support the effectiveness of training and preparation programs in increasing elementary teachers' knowledge of foundational constructs. Training in which teachers have the opportunity to apply their learned knowledge and skills under expert guidance produced the largest growth in teacher knowledge. Implications of findings are discussed.A ll students have the right to learn to read and, thus, the right to have access to knowledgeable literacy educators (International Literacy Association [ILA], 2019; UNESCO, n.d.) who under stand the science of reading, or "the accumulated knowledge about reading, reading development, and best practices for reading instruction obtained by the use of the scientific method" (Petscher et al., 2020, p. S268). Theoretical propositions such as the componential model of reading (Aaron, Joshi, Gooden, & Bentum, 2008) and the lattice model of the development of reading comprehension (Connor, 2016) highlight the importance of classroom factors in reading development, such as teachers' ability to plan and manage instructional activity, and the qual ity of literacy instruction. However, effective literacy instruction is quite complex (Connor et al., 2009) and should consider students' home learning environment, previous background knowledge and experi ences, and effective instructional methods that will produce the highest results for each child (Connor, 2016). Thus, teachers must possess a depth of knowledge, including content and pedagogical knowledge, and understand how to be socially just and culturally responsive in their practice (Mosley Wetzel et al., 2020).In their recent article pertaining to teacher preparation, Hoffman, Hikida, and Sailors (2020) pointed out that over 600 empirical studies on literacy teacher preparation were published between 1999 and 2018. These studies examined teachers' knowledge and practice through a wide range of methodologies and lenses, which was necessary given the complexity of effective literacy instruction. Hoffman et al. also argued
1284: 2017) findings indicate a strong relationship between outcome emotions and performance tasks: highest performing medical students had the most positive emotions. The authors suggested that medical students who fail and experience negative emotions could experience a loss of confidence and lead to dropping out of medical school. These results can be applied to teachers and administrators in K-12 settings as they make the shift to digital learning by including emotional assessments into the new digital learning platforms in order to address areas of emotional stress and teacher burnout before leading to attrition. This perspective makes suggestions of ways Jarrell et al. 's (Educational Technology & Research Development, 65, 1263-1284: 2017 findings could be a starting place for educational stakeholders to prioritize teachers' emotional well-being and offer an opportunity to provide intervention support in order to increase teacher self-efficacy in the shift to digital and possibly reduce teacher burnout. Keywords Performance feedback • Teacher emotions • Teacher burn-outIn their 2017 paper, Jarrell & colleagues extend prior research on the relationship between outcome emotions and classroom performance to a computer-based learning environment (CBLE). In this study, 30 medical students completed three case studies of varying difficulty (i.e., easy, moderate, and difficult) in which they evaluated a patient's medical history, proposed a diagnosis supported by evidence, justified their decisions, and reported their level of confidence in the proposed diagnosis. After each case study, students received personalized feedback on both the efficiency and accuracy of their diagnosis. Students * Julie K. Owens
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