Assessing Teacher Beliefs about Early Literacy Curriculum Implementation

  • Ferry Boschman (Speaker)
  • Barbara Bradley (Speaker)
  • Susan McKenney - Jensh (Speaker)

    Activity: Talk or presentation typesTalk or presentation (not at a conference)Academic

    Description

    Against the backdrop of growing international concern for a narrowing view of early literacy, this study was initiated to determine how teachers of four-year-olds view their task of fostering early literacy. This paper reports on the first steps to design and validate an instrument which captures teachers’ perceptions of: early literacy content goals; developmentally appropriate and effective pedagogical practices related to each content goal; and their own competencies to offer a suitable environment for developing early literacy. The content validity of the instrument was evaluated by an expert screening; the reliability and practicality of the instrument are being assessed through a pilot study involving 40 teachers from two countries; this paper reports on the findings from the first 20 teachers. Validation findings indicate that the instrument appears to be reliable. The findings from the pilot run show that teachers focus on decoding skills most; there is some attention to book orientation and understanding, and relatively little to the functions of written language. McKenney, S., Bradley, B., & Boschman, F. (2011, 8-12 April). Assessing Teacher Beliefs about Early Literacy Curriculum Implementation. Presentation at AERA annual meeting, New Orleans.
    Period8 Apr 201112 Apr 2011
    Event titleAnnual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association: Inciting the social imagination
    Event typeConference
    LocationNew Orleans, United States, LouisianaShow on map
    Degree of RecognitionInternational