Development of a Plan to Improve Teachers’ Ability to Instruct Students in the Five Reading Components Associated With the Reading First Program at Schools in Southeast Florida
by Tangela L. Williams
An Applied Dissertation Submitted to the Fischler School of Education and Human Services in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education
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Development of a Plan to Improve Teachers’ Ability to Instruct Students in the Five Reading Components Associated With the Reading First Program at Schools in Southeast Florida. Williams, Tangela L., 2006: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fischler School of Education and Human Services. Teacher Knowledge/ Teacher Educators/Teacher Education/Knowledge Base for Teaching
This applied dissertation addressed the knowledge level and professional development needs of K-3 teachers at School A and School B in Southeast Florida. The purpose of the project was to develop a professional development program that would provide teachers in Grades K-3 with ongoing staff development that correlated with the 5 reading components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) to improve their skills in reading instruction.
Development of a program was based upon research and survey feedback. The professional development program included ongoing peer support, administrative support, modeling, coaching, and professional development training that supported scientific, researched-based reading programs that were aligned with the 5 areas of reading.
To explore the critical professional development needs of K-3 teachers at the 2 school sites, a survey was distributed to all K-3 teachers to determine their knowledge of the 5 reading components and their needs for professional development. Teacher knowledge survey results showed that K-3 teachers required professional development in vocabulary and comprehension to support an effective reading program. Also, the survey results revealed that the Destination Reading program was a technical training need. District workshop training in team and collaborative planning and effective conference and communication skills comprised an essential interpersonal skills training need among colleagues and stakeholders and literacy centers, and Quick Reads (Hiebert, 2005), Bringing Words to Life (Beck, 2002), Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment (Good, 2001), The Six Minute Solution: A Reading Fluency Program (Adams, 2004) for fluency, and Thinking Maps (Thinking Maps, Inc., 2005) were informational training needs. A primary recommendation was that a staff development program be developed with weekly study groups for K-3 teachers and school leadership team members for continuous knowledge building, professional dialogue, planning, modeling, coaching, monitoring, and assisting and supporting K-3 teachers in their efforts to deliver and implement effective reading instruction strategies.