Ensuring Tomorrow's Literacy: A Shared Responsibility

Abstract

A review of research on reading and writing shows that an increase in understanding of the cognitive processes involved in reading and writing can improve teachers' effectiveness. Forty-eight state departments of education responded to a survey regarding current certification for teaching reading and writing at elementary, secondary, and adult education levels. Findings indicated that requirements are minimal. Teacher educators are urged to increase program requirements within their institutions and to work with states to increase certification requirements sufficiently to disseminate advances in knowledge of reading and writing processes and thereby improve educational practice.American citizens have high expectations for their schools, with the most fundamental being that of teaching students to read and write. As social and technological conditions require increased levels of literacy (Resnick & Resnick, 1977, levels of national expectation rise as well, and when disproportionate numbers of United States children are found among the poorest readers in international comparisons (Stevenson, 1984), it is the classroom teacher who most often is criticized. The responsibility for the nation's literacy, however, belongs not to the classroom teacher alone, but also to the institutions that educate teachers and the states that certify them. That being the case, it seems appropriate to ask whether teacher practice is enhanced by increasing teacher understanding of reading and writing and, if so, whether teachers are provided ample opportunity (by the pro-

Reading teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature and English phonology

“…In the past, the question of teachers' knowledge of reading has frequently been framed in terms of academic preparation or state certification standards (Austin, 1961;Bader, 1975;Braam & Oliver, 1970;Nolen, McCutchen, & Berninger, 1990;Thelen, 1972;Winkeljohann, 1976). More recently, there has been considerable discussion of "best practice" in reading instruction (Adams, 1990;Baumann, Hoffman, Moon, & Duffy-Hester, 1998;Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999;Pressley, 1998;Pressley et al, 1997), but less about the professional, disciplinary knowledge base that enables teachers to develop and employ best practice in their classrooms.…”

“…Children's literature has long been considered an important element in reading instruction (IRA, 1978;Commission on Reading, National Academy of Education, 1985) and is frequently included as required course work in state certification requirements (Nolen et al, 1990). Although a variety of instructional goals may be served by including children's literature as part of reading instruction (Scharer, Freeman, Lehman, & Allen, 1993;Tharp & Gallimore, 1989), knowledge of children's literature seems a logical prerequisite for any literature-based instruction (Grossman et al, 1995).…”

“…Although such linguistic knowledge is far less likely to appear in teacher certification requirements (Nolen et al, 1990), such knowledge is reflected in many professional standards (IRA, 1978;NRP 2000). Particularly in the area of word identification, children's early reading growth is related to their insight into individual sounds within words, an insight that has come to be known as phonological awareness (Adams, 1990;Burns et al, 1999;NRE 2000;Share & Stanovich, 1995).…”

Starting small: Building preschool teacher knowledge that supports early literacy development

“…For this reason, Lyon et al (1989) criticized teacher education programs that did not provide the requisite intensive theoretical and practical training. Similarly, Nolan, McCutchen, and Berninger (1990) examined teacher education programs and found a general insufficiency of teacher training in reading development and disciplinary knowledge. They asserted that teachers could not possibly be prepared to meet the diverse needs of students on the basis of the minimal requirements in teacher education.…”

Further evidence for teacher knowledge: supporting struggling readers in grades three through five

“…Teachers' knowledge of reading has at times been framed in terms of academic preparation or state certification standards (Bader, 1975;Braam & Oliver, 1970;Nolen, McCutchen, & Berninger, 1990;Winkeljohann, 1976), and more recently, there has been considerable discussion of best practice in reading instruction (Baumann, Hoffman, Duffy-Hester, & Moon, 2000;Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999;National Reading Panel [NRP], 2000;Pressley, 1998), with inferences about knowledge based on differences in practice. Although there has been research that directly examines the disciplinary knowledge needed to teach effectively in other areas (Ball, 1991;Grossman, 1991;Shulman, 1987;Wineburg & Wilson, 1991), there has been less research on the knowledge base needed to teach reading.…”