Disciplinary knowledge of K-3 teachers and their knowledge calibration in the domain of early literacy

Abstract

Recently, investigators have begun to pay increasing attention to the role of teachers' domain specific knowledge in the area of reading, and its implications for both classroom practice and student learning. The aims of the present study were to assess kindergarten to third-grade teachers' actual and perceived reading-related subject matter knowledge, and to investigate the extent to which teachers calibrate their reading related subject matter knowledge by examining relationships between actual and perceived knowledge. Results indicated that while teachers demonstrated limited knowledge of children's literature, phoneme awareness, and phonics, the majority of these same teachers evaluated their knowledge levels quite positively. Teachers demonstrated some ability to calibrate their own knowledge levels in the area of children's literature, yet they were poorly calibrated in the domains of phoneme awareness and phonics. These findings suggest that teachers tend to overestimate their reading related subject matter knowledge and are often unaware of what they know and do not know. Implications for the design of teacher education at both the preservice and inservice levels are discussed.

Introduction to the special issue about perspectives on teachers’ disciplinary knowledge of reading processes, development, and pedagogy

“…Researchers have continued to more specifically characterize the knowledge that teachers and teacher educators must acquire and apply (Almasi, 2002;Ball, 2000;Joshi et al, 2009;Shulman, 1986Shulman, , 1987, craft professional development programs that help teachers cultivate such knowledge (McCutchen et al, 2002;Spear-Swerling & Brucker, 2003), and develop instruments that provide reliable and valid estimates of teacher knowledge (Ball, Phelps, Rowan, & Schilling 2003;Moats, 1994;Cunningham, Perry, Stanovich, & Stanovich, 2004;Moats & Foorman, 2003;Phelps & Schilling, 2004). This theoretical work is based on the premise that it is entirely possible to examine the disciplinary knowledge base of teachers, ascertain how this knowledge base is associated with student outcomes, and then develop empirically validated ''best practices'' in literacy instruction based on the knowledge of teachers that is most predictive of student gains.…”

Conocimiento del profesorado sobre las dificultades específicas de aprendizaje en lectura y escritura

“…En otros contextos la investigación sobre este tópico es reciente, pero se ha contrastado la importancia del conocimiento del profesorado para la enseñanza de la lectura y la prevención de DEA (Cunningham et al, 2004;Fuchs y Fuchs, 2006). Los resultados de algunos estudios evidencian que el profesorado no siempre tiene ideas correctas acerca de la naturaleza y síntomas de DEA (Hudson, High, y Al Otaiba, 2007), siendo esto uno de los principales obstáculos para desarrollar programas de intervención eficaces (Moats, 2009;Washburn, Malatesha, y Binks, 2011).…”

Actual Disciplinary Knowledge, Perceived Disciplinary Knowledge, Teaching Experience and Teacher’s Training for Reading Instruction: A Study with Primary Portuguese and American Teachers // Conhecimento disciplinar efectivo, conhecimento percebido...

“…Furthermore, teachers sometimes seem to overestimate their actual knowledge about reading (Bos, Mather, Dickson, Podhajski, & Chard, 2001;Perry, Stanovich, & Stanovich, 2004).…”