The authors argue for the importance of practice in the professional lives of literacy teachers. Literacy practices and teaching practices are imbued with intentionality, context (temporal, social, political, and cultural), perspective, and outcomes. The goal of this article is to open a dialogue that could begin to normalize a theory of practice…

A study examined the relationship between teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and the verbal feedback they give to students during guided oral reading. A major finding is that teachers' beliefs and behavior vary with the instructional situation; that is, teachers hold different beliefs for different student ability groups.…

The study reported in this article focused on the preparation of elementary preservice teachers to teach reading and on their first 3 years of teaching in schools. Graduates of 8 programs judged as "excellent" by an expert review panel participated in this study. The research was guided by 2 questions: (1) What effects do participation…

Noting that the verbal interactions that transpire between teacher and student in the classroom setting are central to the instructional process, this paper offers reading teachers a systematic means of examining their own interactive patterns in the context of oral reading instruction. In addition, it provides teachers with a way of inspecting…

The third part of a three-part final report on a series of studies that examined the nature, characteristics, and effects of verbal feedback to student reading miscues, this volume contains articles and unpublished manuscripts that have been written as part of the project. The 12 articles cover the following topics: (1) the place of oral reading…

The first two parts of a three-part final report on a series of studies that examined the nature, characteristics, and effects of verbal feedback to student reading miscues are contained in this volume. Part I consists of a summary of the nine specific objectives of the research, an overview of the project's methods, and the findings for each of…

A study was conducted to further understanding of students' perceptions of the teacher's role during guided oral reading. Observations were made of 36 first through sixth grade students reading orally in groups composed of one good reader, one poor reader, and one good or poor reader playing the "teacher." The observations were followed…