Abstract
We investigated relationships among elementary teachers’ reading-related content knowledge (knowledge of literature and phonology), their philosophical orientation toward reading instruction, their classroom practice, and their students’ learning. Correlations showed little relationship between instructional philosophy and content knowledge, and little relationship between instructional philosophy and classroom practice. However, relationships emerged between content knowledge and instruction, and between kindergarten teachers’ phonological knowledge and their students’ reading achievement. We recommend that the recent focus on teacher’s disciplinary knowledge be broadened to include teachers of beginning reading and that teachers be afforded opportunities to develop the necessary knowledge base to teach reading effectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACT. (1997). The high school profile report: Normative data. Iowa City, IA: Author.
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Allen, L., Cipielewski, J., & Stanovich, K. E. (1992). Multiple indicators of children’s reading habits and attitudes: Construct validity and cognitive correlates. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 489–503.
Alvermann, D. E. (1990). Reading teacher education. In W. R. Houston (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 687–704). New York: Macmillan.
Austin, M. C. (1961). The torch lighters: Tomorrow’s teachers of reading. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bader, L. A. (1975). Certification requirements in reading: A trend. Journal of Reading, 19, 237–240.
Ball, D. L. (1991). Research on teaching mathematics: Making content knowledge part of the equation. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in research on teaching (vol. 2) (pp. 1–48). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Ball, E. W., & Blachman, B. A. (1991). Does phonemic awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 49–66.
Baumann, J. F., Hoffman, J., Moon, J., & Duffy-Hester, A. M. (1998). Where are the teachers’ voices in the phonics/whole language debate? Results from a survey of U.S. elementary classroom teachers. The Reading Teacher, 51, 636–650.
Beach, S. A. (1994). Teacher’s theories and classroom practice: Beliefs, knowledge, or context? Reading Psychology: An International Quarterly, 15, 189–196.
Bergeron, B. (1990). What does the term whole language mean? Constructing a definition from the literature. Journal of Reading Behavior, 22, 301–329.
Borko, H., & Putnam, R. T. (1996). Learning to teach. In D. C. Berliner & R. C. Calfee (Ed.), Handbook of Educational Psychology (pp. 673–708). New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.
Bos, C., Mather, N., Dickson, S., Podhajski, B., & Chard, D. (2001). Perceptions and knowledge of preservice and inservice educators about early reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 51, 97–120.
Braam, L., & Oliver, M. (1970). Undergraduate reading education. The Reading Teacher, 23, 426–428.
Bruschi, B., & Coley, R. (1999). How teachers compare: The prose, document, and quantitative skills of America’s teachers. Princeton, NJ: ETS.
Burns, M. S., Griffin, P., & Snow, C. E. (Eds.). (1999). Starting out right: A guide to promoting children’s reading success. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Bus, A. D., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995). Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 65, 1–21.
Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E., & Franke, M. L. (1996). Cognitively Guided Instruction: A knowledge base for reform in elementary mathematics instruction. Elementary School Journal, 97, 1–20.
Chall, J. S. (1967). Learning to read: The great debate. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chall, J. S. (1989). Learning to read: The great debate 20 years later. Phi Delta Kappan, 70, 521–538.
Clark, C. M., & Peterson, P. L. (1986). Teachers’ thought processes. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed.) (pp. 255–296). New York: Macmillan.
College Board. (1997). College bound seniors: A profile of SAT program test takers. New York: Author.
Commission on Reading, National Academy of Education. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education.
Cunningham, A. E. (1990). Explicit versus implicit instruction in phonemic awareness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 50, 429–444.
Cunningham, A. E., Perry, K. E., Stanovich, K. E., Stanovich, P. J., & Chapell, M. M. (2001, June). Is teachers’ knowledge of important declarative knowledge of reading well calibrated? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Denver, Colorado.
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1991). Tracking the unique effects of print exposure in children: Associations with vocabulary, general knowledge, and spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 264–274.
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1993). Children’s literacy environments and early word recognition subskills. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 5, 193–204.
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934–945.
DeFord, D. E. (1985). Validating the construct of theoretical orientation in reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 351–367.
Ehri, L. C., & Williams, J. P. (1995). Learning to read and learning to teach reading. In F. Murray (Ed.), The teacher educator’s handbook: Building a knowledge base for the preparation of teachers (pp. 231–244). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fromkin, V., & Rodman, R. (1993). An introduction to language. Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
George, J. C. (1974). Julie of the wolves. New York: Harpercollins.
Grossman, P. L. (1991). What are we talking about anyway? Content knowledge of secondary English teachers. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in Research on Teaching (vol. 2) (pp. 245–264). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
Grossman, P. L., Valencia, S. W., & Hamel, F. (1995). Preparing language arts teachers in a time of reform. In J. Flood, S. B. Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook for research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (pp. 407–416), New York: Macmillan.
Grossman, P. L., Wilson, S. M., & Shulman, L. S. (1989). Teachers of substance: Subject matter knowledge for teaching. In M. C. Reynolds (Ed.), Knowledge base for the beginning teacher. New York: Pergamon.
Hirsch, E. D., Jr. (1987). Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Houtz, J., & Searcey, D. (1998, February 15). A battle over the ABC’s. The Seattle Times, p. A1.
International Reading Association (IRA), Committee on Professional Standards and Ethics. (1978). Guidelines for the preparation of reading teachers. The Reading Teacher, 32, 48–55.
Iversen, S., & Tunmer, W. E. (1993). Phonological processing skills and the Reading Recovery Program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 112–126.
Leinhardt, G., & Greeno, J. G. (1986). The cognitive skill of teaching. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 75–95.
Lewkowicz, N. K. (1980). Phonemic awareness training: What to teach and how to teach it. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 686–700.
Lobel, A. (1979). Frog and toad are friends. New York: Harpercollins.
Lundberg, I., Frost, J., & Petersen, O. (1988). Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool children. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 263–284.
MacGinitie, W. H., & MacGinitie, R. K. (1989). Gates MacGinitie reading tests (3rd ed.). Chicago: Riverside.
Manning, G., & Manning, M. (Eds.). (1989). Whole language: Beliefs and practices, K-8. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
Mather, N., Bos., C., & Babur, N. (2001). Perceptions and knowledge of preservice and inservice educators about early reading instruction. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 472–482.
McCutchen, D., Abbott, R. D., Green, L. B., Beretvas, S. N., Cox, S., Potter, N. S., Quiroga, T., & Gray, A. (2002). Beginning literacy: Links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 69–86.
McCutchen, D., & Berninger, V. W. (1999). Those who know teach well: Helping teachers master literacy related content knowledge. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 14, 215–226.
Miller, J. D. (1989, January). Scientific literacy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco.
Moats, L. C. (1994). The missing foundation in teacher education: Knowledge of the structure of spoken and written language. Annals of Dyslexia, 44, 81–102.
Nathan, M. J., & Koedinger, K. R. (2000). An investigation of teachers’ beliefs of students’ algebra development. Cognition and Instruction, 18, 207–235.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Nolen, P. A., McCutchen, D., & Berninger, V. (1990). Ensuring tomorrow’s literacy: A shared responsibility. Journal of Teacher Education, 41, 63–72.
Pearson, P. D. (1996). Six ideas in search of a champion: What policymakers should know about the teaching and learning of literacy in our schools. Journal of Literacy Research, 28, 302–309.
Pressley, M. (1998). Reading instruction: The case for balanced teaching. New York: Guilford.
Pressley, M., Wharton-McDonald, R., Rankin, J., El-Dinary, P. B., Brown, R., Afflerbach, P., Mistretta, J., & Yokoi, L. (1997). Elementary reading instruction. In G. D. Phye (Ed.), Handbook of academic learning: Construction of knowledge (pp. 151–198). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Purcell-Gates, V., McIntyre, E., & Freppon, P. A. (1995). Learning written story book language in school: A comparison of low-SES children in skills-based and whole language classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 659–685.
Richardson, V., Anders, P., Tidwell, D., & Lloyd, C. (1991). The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices in reading comprehension instruction. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 559–586.
Riverside Publishing. (1989). Cultural literacy test. Chicago: Author.
Sacks, C. H., & Mergendoller, J. R. (1997). The relationship between teachers’ theoretical orientation toward reading and student outcomes in kindergarten children with different initial reading abilities. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 721–739.
Scarborough, H. S., & Dobrich, W. (1994). On the efficacy of reading to preschoolers. Developmental Review, 14, 245–302.
Scharer, P. L., Freeman, E. B., Lehman, B. A., & Allen, V. G. (1993). Literacy and literature in elementary classrooms: Teachers’ beliefs and practices. In D. J. Leu & C. K. Kinzer (Eds.), Examining central issues in literacy research, theory and practice (pp. 359–366). Chicago: National Reading Conference, Inc.
Sendak, M. (1988). Where the wild things are. New York: Harpercollins.
Shanahan, T. (1994). Teachers thinking, teachers knowing. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English: National Conference on Research in English.
Share, D. L., & Stanovich, K. E. (1995). Cognitive processes in early reading development: Accommodating individual differences into a model of acquisition. Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology, 1, 1–57.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations for the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1–22.
Silverstein, S. (1987). A light in the attic. New York: Harpercollins.
Stanovich, K. E., & Cunningham, A. E. (1992). Studying the consequences of literacy within a literate society: The cognitive correlates of print exposure. Memory and Cognition, 20, 51–68.
Stanovich, K. E., & Cunningham, A. E. (1993). Where does knowledge come from? Specific associations between print exposure and information acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 211–229.
Stanovich, K. E., Cunningham, A. E., & Cramer, B. B. (1984). Assessing phonological awareness in kindergarten children: Issues of task comparability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38, 175–190.
Taylor, B. M., Frye, B. J., & Maruyama, G. M. (1990). Time spent reading and reading growth. American Educational Research Journal, 27, 351–362.
Teichroeb, R. (1998, January 20). Phonics teaching debate is back. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. A1.
Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1989). Rousing schools to life. American Educator, 13, 20–52.
Thelen, J. N. (1972). Everyone shall have the right to read, but who is going to teach them? The Reading Teacher, 25, 612–615.
Troyer, S. J., & Yopp, H. K. (1990). Kindergarten teachers’ knowledge of emergent literacy concepts. Reading Improvement, 27, 34–40.
Van Allsburg, C. (1986). The polar express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Venezky, R. L. (1970). The structure of English orthography. The Hague: Mouton.
Warner, G. C. (1942/1989). The boxcar children. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler individual achievement test. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.
Wineburg, S. S., & Wilson, S. M. (1991). Content knowledge in the teaching of history. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in research on teaching (vol. 2) (pp. 305–347). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Winkeljohann, R. Sr. (1976). State certification of reading teachers. The Reading Teacher, 29, 524–525.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McCutchen, D., Harry, D.R., Cox, S. et al. Reading teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature and English phonology. Ann. of Dyslexia 52, 205–228 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-002-0013-x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-002-0013-x