Investigating preservice teachers’ instructional decision-making for reading

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Hanna Moore (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Shaqwana Freeman-Green

Abstract: Student reading achievement is an ongoing concern for educators, researchers, and policymakers due to continually low proficiency scores. One response to this on-going need is to examine qualities effective teachers possess to prepare effective preservice teachers. In this grounded theory study, one specific component of effective teaching, in-the-moment decision-making, was examined. Activity theory was utilized to examine the in-the-moment decisions made, the rationales cited for these decisions, and the influence of personal experiences, courses, internships, and planning on those decisions and rationales. The participants were six special education preservice teachers enrolled in a special education reading methods course where they tutored elementary students with reading difficulties or disabilities in a Title I public elementary school after school. The participants video-recorded themselves providing reading instruction three times over the semester. The videos were used to collect observational data by the researcher and were watched by the participant and researcher during video-stimulated recall interviews. Other collected data included lesson plans, belief and demographic survey, course assignments (i.e., assessment case study, intervention plan, and course syllabus. The surveys and interviews were analyzed using constant comparative methods across three stages (i.e., initial, focused, selective). The preservice teachers made twelve different types of in-the-moment decisions and cited nine different rationales for the decisions. Furthermore, the findings indicate that although the influences varied across participants, in-the-moment decisions were heavily influenced by courses and internships while a lack of planning influenced the rationales. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2020
Keywords
Qualitative, Reading instruction, Special education, Teacher preparation
Subjects
Special education teachers $x Training of
Teaching $x Decision making
Reading $x Remedial teaching
Reading (Elementary)

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