Elementary teachers have long been absent from the debates surrounding teacher education reform. This research aimed to provide an avenue for teachers to share their insights and beliefs about teacher education. A two-tiered selection produced a sample of over two-hundred elementary teachers for this study. They were asked to compare their own…

Determines, for reading specialists in general and for reading specialists in the federally funded Chapter 1 program specifically, (1) their professional training; (2) their actual responses as compared to their perceived "ideal" responsibilities; and (3) their topic preferences for in-service education offerings. (RS)

Proposes extending the training of reading teachers to include sociological aspects. Describes three traits that training programs for reading educators could foster: ecological thinking; cultural responsiveness; and communicative competence. Suggests changes which would align the training of reading teachers with these sociological…

Explores the use of a diary as a tool to mediate the strategic reading instruction of classroom teachers. Finds that a diary may be an important mediational tool in helping reading teachers to access knowledge acquired during inservice education and regulating their instructional activity. (RS)

Describes four types of feedback provided to preservice elementary teachers concurrently enrolled in university reading courses and early field experiences. Includes field notes, checklists, anecdotal accounts, and dialog journals. Presents a coaching model that identifies what was done well during the lesson, describes important areas that need…

Investigates whether early childhood teachers could achieve consensus on three basic questions related to reading readiness: (1) What is reading readiness? (2) How do we know when a child is ready to read? (3) What should be included in an appropriate reading readiness curriculum for kindergartners? (FL)

Finds that all three groups (preservice elementary teachers, graduate elementary teachers, and graduate reading teachers) cited children's samples for the majority of their conclusions about the portfolios; and graduate reading teachers ranked the reliability of the samples much higher than either of the other two groups. Finds qualitative…

Research on the impact of professional development and mentoring in the activities of K-12 classroom teachers and their positive effects has been widely documented (Borko, Davinroy, Bliem, & Cumbo, 2000; Broaddus & Bloodgood, 1999; Lyons, 1991; Richardson, 1999). However, comparatively little is known about the effect of professional development…

Investigates the relationships among teachers' stated theoretical orientation to reading and several psychological measures. States that teacher educators need to be creative and intentional to reach all varieties of learners. Cautions that no single methodology should ever be mandated by administrators. (MG)

Investigates the degree to which instruction in teachers' manuals relates to the stories in basal readers. Finds that the instruction in teachers' manuals relates to children's stories less than 33% of the time. (SKC)

This study describes the evolution of an exemplary Title I reading program in a rural elementary school. The key element in the program was a knowledgeable reading teacher who worked directly with children and also supervised the tutoring efforts of others (teacher assistants and community volunteers). A snapshot of longitudinal test data showed…

Analyzes elementary teachers' interactions with students during guided reading of basal reader selections to determine the extent to which the interactions promote students' metacomprehension abilities. Finds that teachers assumed most of the responsibility for students' comprehension themselves rather than conducting the lessons in a manner that…

Presents annotations of nine articles from the ERIC database that discuss the pedagogical relationship between reading teachers and their students. Includes articles that deal with whole-language instruction, student motivation, instructional grouping, questioning techniques, and the characteristics of effective teachers. (PRA)

Examines the degree to which whole language practices have become a part of reading instruction offered by first grade teachers in six school districts. Finds that teachers spent less than 10 percent of the reading instructional time engaged in practices which could be considered in agreement with whole language theory. (MG)

Describes how a semester-long pen-pal project enabled 18 participating university language arts students, a class of first graders, their teacher, and the university instructors to become co-learners in meaningful, action research. Discusses insights about writing derived from the children's weekly letters. Presents an assessment rubric charting…