Teacher expertise can have a large influence on student experiences and achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, practices, and beliefs of early elementary classroom teachers who have supplementary literacy certification. Although characteristics of effective literacy teachers have been identified in previous…

In South Africa, the issue of learning to read is an area of concern. While studies have focused on reading problems in the Foundation Phase, little is known about this issue in full-service schools. In light of this, the aim of this study was to explore how Grade 3 teachers supported learners who experienced reading problems in full-service…

The need for High-Interest Low-Readability books (Hi-Lo) has been acknowledged by reading specialists and teachers alike since the 1900s, yet there is a research gap regarding teacher knowledge of and access to these books. This study sought to understand teacher awareness of Hi-Lo books, access to them, and usage within classrooms in the United…

In pursuit of Academic Excellence, MCPS allocated funds for school year 2022-2023 to ensure every elementary school had a full-time reading specialist to serve as a literacy coach. This evaluation focused on understanding how the reading specialist position supported teachers' increased capacity to implement the MCPS literacy program, including…

The purpose of this qualitative, semi-structured interview study was to explore the role of a reading interventionist within an elementary school setting to help bring increased clarity to the responsibilities of a reading interventionist. Research questions focused on the role and impact of reading interventionists when working with developing…

By nurturing early literacy skills, we invest in young minds, building a strong foundation for lifelong learning, communication, and success. This Spotlight will help you evaluate research on early literacy gains from tutoring; analyze what experts say makes a strong early reading law; learn how reading on screens can worsen comprehension for…

Many teachers have strong beliefs about the way literacy should be taught, despite what the research shows about how students learn best. If an educator's existing beliefs about literacy clash with updated instructional understandings and methods about the science of reading, there's a likelihood that teachers may resist embracing change and…

As an initial step of a larger grant-funded project, this pilot study examined how providing preschool teachers in low socio-economic urban areas with a traditional professional development workshop and subsequent coaching on dialogic reading (DR) strategies affected their storybook reading. Effects on children's receptive and expressive language…

This qualitative phenomenological research design study sought to explore whether the public education governance accountability system's high stakes standardized testing system in Texas played any role in the wellbeing of elementary school educators during the COVID-19 global pandemic. To explore the essence of the Texas high stakes…

Rooted in critical literacy, critical multiculturalism, and social constructivist theories, this study examined how structured asynchronous online discussions (SAODs) fostered in-service reading teachers' understanding of multicultural literature and a teaching stance that embraces the transformative potential of multicultural literature in an…

Students need proficient literacy skills if they are to be successful in school and in life. Students typically master foundational literacy skills in the primary grades, and their abilities continue to develop throughout middle and high school as they encounter increasingly difficult academic work. Unfortunately, a substantial percentage of…

The authors discuss the tension between the science of reading and adaptive teaching. The discussion focuses on the ways in which the science of reading emphasizes the teaching of reading as decontextualized and compartmentalized aspects of literacy acquisition that are distant from culturally sustaining and relevant pedagogies and restrict…

This report presents results from a survey of 64 elementary mathematics and reading language arts teacher educators providing feedback on a new type of short performance task. The performance tasks each present a brief teaching scenario and then require a short performance as if teaching actual students. Teacher educators participating in the…

The goal of the "Best Practices: Preparing Excellent Reading Teachers" research project is to present a deep analysis of New Hampshire (NH) teacher endorsement standards that relate to the teaching of reading and report on the application of existing standards and evidence-based strategies for teaching structured literacy in relevant…

Students needed to be able to read in elementary school to be successful in school and in life. Meanwhile, teachers graduated from teacher preparation colleges and not able to teach reading once they were in their own classrooms. Teachers who developed self-efficacy in the teaching of reading were the best teachers to teach reading. The purpose of…