Teachers’ text use in middle school content-area classrooms

Abstract

Literacy standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers in Common core state standards: English language arts standards, 2010) and best practices from Institute of Education Sciences practice guides (e.g., Baker et al. in Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle school (NCEE 2014-4012), National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, 2014; Kamil et al. in Improving adolescent literacy: effective classroom and intervention practices (NCEE 2008-4027), National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, 2008) encourage content-area teachers to use text reading to improve vocabulary and comprehension for middle grade students. Despite these strong research recommendations and various literacy initiatives, previous research studies have found a persistent pattern of limited text use (i.e., reading and learning from text) in content-area classrooms, thus limiting students' opportunities to develop advanced literacy skills.This study extends the research base on text use in middle school by presenting findings of a questionnaire administered to 124 middle school teachers and offering insights on how text is typically used in English language arts, science, and social studies classes. Teachers responded to questions about the duration and frequency of text use, as well as reading formats, reading materials (including textbooks), and challenges to utilizing text reading more often. Findings suggest that while most teachers indicated a desire to increase the amount of reading in their classes, they cited challenges such as students' difficulty with reading and a preference for using other types of teaching activities. Teachers also cited the need for higher-quality texts, and science and social studies teachers, in particular, reported dissatisfaction with and limited use of textbooks. Implications for practice include providing professional development focused on selecting appropriate texts for instruction, using text reading routines that enhance purposeful learning, and integrating reading practices into existing instructional delivery practices.