Characterizing the knowledge of educators receiving training in systematic literacy instruction

Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge of Foundational Literacy Skills: A Critical Piece of the Puzzle in the Science of Reading

“…For instance, Piasta et al (2009) found that a grade 1 teacher's level of understanding of English phonology, orthography, and morphology could predict the word reading gains of first grade students, with more knowl edgeable teachers (i.e., scoring at the 50th percentile or higher) who provided explicit phonics instruction pro ducing students with higher gains than less knowledge able teachers (i.e., scoring in the lowest 25th percentile). McCutchen et al (2002) found that kindergarten teachers who received two weeks of intensive training followed by monthly meetings dedicated statistically significantly more time to phonological awareness instruction than control group teachers did, leading to improved reading outcomes (i.e., phonological awareness, word reading) for students taught by trained teachers. Additionally, elemen tary teachers who were more familiar with the NRP's (NICHD, 2000) findings and had a deeper knowledge of foundational literacy skills (i.e., scores at or above the median) allocated more instructional time to teaching these skills (Spear Swerling & Zibulsky, 2014).…”

“…This emphasis on explicit instruction undoubtedly places expectations on teachers' knowledge (Moats, 2014) because teachers cannot be expected to provide effective instruc tion if they do not possess an explicit understanding of these literacy constructs (Moats, 2009). Research has supported the critical role of teachers' knowledge of these core pillars in students' reading achievement (e.g., Cash, Cabell, Hamre, DeCoster, & Pianta, 2015;Ehri & Flugman, 2018;McCutchen et al, 2002;McCutchen, Green, Abbott, & Sanders, 2009;Piasta, Connor, Fishman, & Morrison, 2009;Spear Swerling & Zibulsky, 2014), but with a focus on foundational literacy skills. For instance, Piasta et al (2009) found that a grade 1 teacher's level of understanding of English phonology, orthography, and morphology could predict the word reading gains of first grade students, with more knowl edgeable teachers (i.e., scoring at the 50th percentile or higher) who provided explicit phonics instruction pro ducing students with higher gains than less knowledge able teachers (i.e., scoring in the lowest 25th percentile).…”

“…This discrepancy in beliefs and knowledge might obscure teachers' aware ness of the need to increase their knowledge. Moreover, research has demonstrated that teachers may not deepen their knowledge of concepts related to reading instruc tion through teaching experience alone (McCutchen et al, 2002;Pittman et al, 2020;Washburn et al, 2011b).…”

“…These concerns point to the importance of elemen tary teacher preparation in foundational literacy skills to increase teachers' ability to teach to high standards (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002). How ever, research findings on the efficacy of teacher training programs are mixed (Ehri & Flugman, 2018;Joshi et al, 2009;McCutchen et al, 2002McCutchen et al, , 2009. The variability of teacher training formats across studies suggests that pro gram characteristics moderate training effectiveness on teacher knowledge (Desimone et al, 2002;Greenleaf, Lit man, & Marple, 2018), although these characteristics have not been systematically identified.…”

“…Thirteen studies addressed phonics knowledge (Brady et al, 2009;Brownell et al, 2017;Carreker et al, 2010;Englert et al, 2020;Goldfeld et al, 2021;Gormley & Ruhl, 2007;Leader Janssen & Rankin Erickson, 2013;McMahan et al, 2019;Peltier et al, 2020;Purvis et al, 2016;Spear Swerling, 2009;Spear Swerling & Brucker, 2003, 2004. Across these studies (see Table 3), PST coursework focused on building orthographic knowledge and the systematic, explicit teach ing of word decoding to young students.…”