Beginning Literacy: Links Among Teacher Knowledge, Teacher Practice, and Student Learning

Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of learning disabilities 2002-01, Vol.35 (1), p.69-86
Main Authors: McCutchen, Deborah, Abbott, Robert D., Green, Laura B., Beretvas, S. Natasha, Cox, Susanne, Potter, Nina S., Quiroga, Teresa, Gray, Audra L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Beginning Reading
Child
Child Development
Child, Preschool
Classrooms
Control Groups
Education
Educational Status
Elementary education
Elementary School Teachers
Faculty
Female
Grade 1
Grade 4
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Inservice Teacher Education
Kindergarten
Knowledge
Knowledge Base for Teaching
Learning
Learning Disabilities
Learning Disorders - diagnosis
Learning Disorders - rehabilitation
Linguistics
Literacy
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Orthographic Symbols
Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence
Phonological awareness
Phonology
Preschool Teachers
Primary Education
Reading
Reading Achievement
Reading Skills
Special education
Summer
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Effectiveness
Teacher Student Relationship
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Training Methods
USA
Writing
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Summary:Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.
ISSN:0022-2194
1538-4780
DOI:10.1177/002221940203500106