Agricultural Science Teachers' Attitudes About and Use of Reading in Secondary Agricultural Science Instruction

Abstract

A national survey of 216 agriscience teachers investigated the attitudes and practices related to reading. Knowledge of strategies, total time of text use, confidence in strategy use, and the general approach to reading explained 67% of the variance in frequency of content area reading strategy use. Teachers held positive attitudes about reading from personal and instructional standpoints. However, they lacked knowledge and confidence in content area reading strategies, which translated into low frequency of strategy use. Teachers appeared to use reading and text with justifiable frequency in their agricultural science courses. Because knowledge of reading strategies explained such a large amount of variance (nearly 64%) in frequency of reading strategy use, career and technical education program administrators and teacher educators should encourage professional development about reading strategies.

Preservice Teachers' Experiences in a Required Reading in the Content Area Course

“…The participants developed knowledge regarding a broad range of literacy strategies. Agriculture teachers who have completed a RICA-style course use a wider variety of strategies in their classrooms compared to non-completers (Park & Osborne, 2007a). An expanded definition of text is also a common outcome associated with a RICA-style course (Spitler, 2011).…”

“…Teacher attitudes also impact the likelihood of implementing reading strategies (Baker et al, 2008;O'Brien & Stewart, 1990). Student literacy attitudes are actively influenced by their teachers (Adams & Pegg, 2012;Moje, 1996;Park & Osborne, 2007a;Phelps, 2005). Historically, secondary teachers often view literacy skills instruction as something that should occur outside their classroom (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008).…”

“…To aid in the integration of literacy instruction, many states have mandated literacy coursework for preservice teachers. Over 80% of in-service agriculture teachers have completed some literacy-related college coursework (Hasselquist & Kitchel, in press), a marked increase from previous studies (Park & Osborne, 2007a). Agriculture teachers must be comfortable with literacy strategies to use them in the classroom (Park & Osborne, 2006;Santamaria et al, 2010).…”

“…Agriculture teachers must be comfortable with literacy strategies to use them in the classroom (Park & Osborne, 2006;Santamaria et al, 2010). Agriculture teachers who completed literacy-related coursework had better literacy attitudes (Park & Osborne, 2006) and used 10 additional strategies than non-completers (Park & Osborne, 2007a). When preservice teachers complete literacy-related coursework it has the potential to positively influence their classroom practices.…”

Integrating Comprehension Strategies into Social Studies Instruction

“…Typically, instructional practices in content classes like social studies are geared toward the whole class, with little or no differentiated instruction to meet the needs of individual students struggling with the content (e.g., Vaughn and LinanThompson 2003). Furthermore, many teachers report that they do not have the knowledge or confidence in using comprehension strategies, which in turn reduces strategy use in their classrooms (Park and Osborne 2007).…”