There are few measures of teacher professional knowledge of reading comprehension, therefore little is known about the levels of teacher professional knowledge, their motivation and attitudes to teaching reading comprehension. The Knowledge, Behaviour and Attitudes Test for Reading Comprehension (KBAT-RC) was developed from a systematic literature…

Education policy in England requires student teachers to demonstrate effective teaching of early reading, including systematic synthetic phonics, in order to qualify to teach. Although there is a range of literature about initial teacher education, little is documented about how pre-service or 'student' teachers develop specific knowledge and…

This article explores reading in the English classroom through a cognitive linguistic lens. In particular, we consider how students' ability to engage with a text, which we term authentic reading, can be facilitated or restricted. We draw on two case studies featuring Year 7 students working with the novel Holes (Sachar 2000), and the short story…

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of "closing the gap." Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessment "for" learning…

Teachers of reading in secondary schools know how important it is for low-attaining readers to read whole narratives but time to do this in a crowded curriculum is limited and progress is more easily measured through reading smaller parts of texts. This paper reports on a longitudinal critical action research project in which three English…

For the first time, a pan-European study offers a comprehensive picture of reading literacy and identifies some of the key factors impacting on the acquisition of reading skills for 3-15 year olds. It addresses four key topics: teaching approaches, tackling reading difficulties, teacher education and the promotion of reading outside school. It…

Given the narrow scope of primary teachers' knowledge and use of children's literature identified in Phase I of "Teachers as Readers" (2006-2007), the core goal of the Phase II project was to improve teachers' knowledge and experience of such literature in order to help them increase children's motivation and enthusiasm for reading,…

An account of the Barking Reading Project designed to prepare classroom teachers (instead of reading specialists) to respond to children with severe reading difficulties. The subject of a two-year government research study, the project's findings endorse initiatives that promote classroom teacher ability to make good teaching decisions relating to…

A study examined the theoretical orientation of infant school and infant department teachers in England. The Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) was used to determine the teacher's orientation to reading instruction. TORP applies a Likert scale response system to a series of statements about how reading should be taught. Subjects…

Analyzes data collected from 121 primary education teachers concerning methods of teaching reading. Discovers that the majority of teachers employ a wide range of reading and writing activities. While most schools maintain a devoted commitment to reading instruction, a lack of consistency suggests a more comprehensive policy. (MJP)