Co-Principal Investigator(s): Rowan, Brian

Purpose: In this project, the researchers planned to develop and validate measures of pedagogical content knowledge in early reading. Also, they purposed to investigate the relationship between elementary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of reading, their instructional practices, and their students' reading achievement.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: This project takes place at Reading First schools in Michigan.

Sample: The sample include a random sample of 1,000 kindergarten through grade 3 teachers from Reading First schools in Michigan and a sub-sample of 100 teachers randomly selected from the initial sample (25 per grade level). In addition, three students of each teacher in the sub-sample will be recruited, using student reading scores to identify one student each from the top, middle and bottom thirds on performance. Teachers will represent the full racial, ethnic, and professional diversity of Michigan kindergarten through third grade public school faculty.

Assessment: A measure of pedagogical content knowledge for teachers that relates to their practices in teaching reading and growth in their students' reading skill.

Research Design and Methods: Three studies will be conducted for this project. Study 1 will establish the construct validity of the pedagogical content knowledge measure through reading experts' analysis of previously developed measures and by developing a new measure of pedagogical content knowledge based on this analysis. Study 2 will investigate the psychometric properties of the developed pedagogical content knowledge measure, its relationship to teacher background measures, and its relationship to student reading gains. Study 3 will observe a sub-sample of teachers and students to investigate the relationship of teacher scores on the pedagogical content knowledge measure to the actual instructional practices of those teachers.

Key Measures: Teacher measures will include the measure under development, Survey of Teachers' Knowledge about Reading, General Knowledge, classroom observations, teachers' logs, and a background information form about professional preparation and experience. Student measures will include the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) reading subtest and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

Data Analytic Strategy: The pedagogical content knowledge teacher assessment will be designed, refined, and validated using exploratory cluster analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and item response theory reliabilities. Teacher effects on year-end reading performance and student growth will be analyzed with hierarchical linear models. Value-added analyses will be conducted.

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Select Publications

Journal articles

Carlisle, J.F., Kelcey, B., and Berebitsky, D. (2013). Teachers' Support of Students' Vocabulary Learning During Literacy Instruction in High Poverty Elementary Schools. American Educational Research Journal, 50(6), 1360–1391.

Carlisle, J., Kelcey, B., Berebitsky, D., and Phelps, G. (2011). Embracing the Complexity of Instruction: A Study of the Effects of Teachers' Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, Online Submission, 15(5): 409–439.

Carlisle, J.F., Kelcey, B., Rowan, B., and Phelps, G. (2011). Teachers' Knowledge About Early Reading: Effects on Students' Gains in Reading Achievement. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(4), 289–321.

Dwyer, J., Kelcey, B., Berebitsky, D., and Carlisle, J.F. (2016). A Study of Teachers' Discourse Moves That Support Text-Based Discussions. The Elementary School Journal, 117(2), 285–309.

Kelcey, B. (2011). Assessing the Effects of Teachers' Reading Knowledge on Students' Achievement Using Multilevel Propensity Score Stratification. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(4): 458–482.

Kelcey, B., and Carlisle, J.F. (2013). Learning About Teachers' Literacy Instruction From Classroom Observations. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(3), 301–317.

Kelcey, B., and Phelps, G. (2013). Considerations for Designing Group Randomized Trials of Professional Development with Teacher Knowledge Outcomes. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 35(3), 370–390.

** This project was submitted to and funded under Teacher Quality: Reading and Writing in FY 2005.