Online Teacher Education: Exploring the Impact of a Reading and Literacy Program on Student Learning

Abstract

This study presents findings from an investigation of the impact of teachers who graduated from a fully online master’s degree program with training in pedagogy and a content-specialization in elementary reading and literacy (oERL) on reading achievement in a large urban public school system in the northwestern United States. The research team used a non-equivalent group design and matched pairs of teachers based on degree, grade-level taught, and teaching experience to construct the study on three years of student and teacher data. The study consisted of 70 teachers and 3,828 student observations. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to understand the teachers’ effects on student learning over time. Results indicate there was a significant positive effect of the oERL on student achievement. Broadly, this study is an example of a serious attempt to ascertain the impact of a high demand and fully online program on the community where graduates are employed. More narrowly, these results support the view that a fully online program aimed at training teachers, a rarity in graduate education, can provide opportunities for those teachers to obtain the pedagogical content knowledge that can positively influence instructional effectiveness. 
 

Involvement in Subject Teachers Association (MGMP), Pedagogical and Professional Competencies of Civic Teachers, And Learning Outcomes: A Correlational Study

“…The results of this study are supported by research conducted by (Weschke et al, 2011) with teachers as research objects trained to apply online learning. The results of the study state that the full online program aimed at training teachers can provide opportunities for teachers to gain knowledge of pedagogical content that can positively influence teaching effectiveness.…”

Remote and Blended Teacher Education: A Rapid Review

“…The final study reported in this sub-section is Weschke, Barclay & Vandersall (2011) [104], who undertook a small-scale study of 31 elementary teachers who completed a fully online master's programme on pedagogy and literacy matched with a comparative sample of 39 teachers with an existing masters level qualification who did not complete the online programme. The study looked at the impacts on oral reading fluency of students as a measure of efficacy by undertaking 3828 student observations.…”

Describing K-12 online teachers’ online professional development opportunities for students with disabilities

“…Further, online learning creates accessible opportunities since it utilizes platforms that deliver information irrespective of time, place, and situational barriers (Kanuka & Nocente, 2003). Studies of online learning opportunities for teachers have identified positive effects and even changes in teachers' pedagogical and content knowledge, classroom practice, and student outcomes (Weschke & Barclay, 2011). In fact, even teachers in traditional settings seem to prefer the Internet for their professional learning (Charalambousa & Ioannou, 2011;Kao, Wu, & Tsai, 2011).…”