Author: Kelly Neumann
Neumann, Kelly, 2020 No pre-service teacher left behind: the development and refinement of an online supplementary program designed to lift pre-service teachers’ understanding of the science of word-level reading instruction, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Terms of Use: This electronic version is (or will be) made publicly available by Flinders University in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. You may use this material for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material and/or you believe that any material has been made available without permission of the copyright owner please contact copyright@flinders.edu.au with the details.
Purpose: Children who do not have a firm grasp on foundational skills that underpin early reading success are at high risk of experiencing reading difficulties without targeted intervention (Carson, Gillon & Boustead, 2013). In Australia, approximately one in five children struggle with reading development (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD], 2004; United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF], 2017). Contradicting approaches regarding the best methods for teaching young children how to become skilful readers has been debated for many years and is coined ‘The Reading Wars’ (Castles, Rastle & Nation, 2018). However, there is no need for such a war given that the scientific evidence regarding how to best teach young children how to read has been clear for at least 20-years (Ehri et al, 2001; Rose, 2006; Rowe & National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy [NITL] [Australia], 2005; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998). Repeatedly, the skills of phoneme awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension strategies have been shown to be the key pillars of reading success (Hempenstall, 2016). Rather than arguing over the best way to teach children how to read, attention should be directed at how our education system and teachers can best be supported to ensure the key pillars of reading success are taught effectively within early year classrooms.
One method is to ensure Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs are well-equipped to teach pre-service teachers the science underpinning reading development and instruction, as well as methods to lift pre-service teachers’ own knowledge of spoken and written language structures to ensure no pre-service teacher is left behind when it comes to being graduate-ready to effectively teach children how to read. Two skills that are widely known to influence early word recognition skills are phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge. These two skills are powerful predictors of how well children will learn to read and spell in the first two years of school and therefore pre-service teachers with aspirations to work in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms should have a strong grasp of how to assess and instruct in these critical areas (Hulme, Bowyer-Crane, Carroll, Duff, & Snowling, 2012). As an initial starting point, and as part of a larger body of research being undertaken in ITE programs at one Australian university, this master’s project aimed to develop and evaluate the appropriateness of a supplementary online program designed to raise final-year pre-service teachers’ knowledge of the science surrounding word-level reading assessment and instruction for early year classrooms.
Method: A mixed methods design consisting of three stages was used to design and pilot an online, evidence-based, supplementary professional learning program for final-year ITE students. The first methodological stage involved sourcing appropriate content via Quartile 1 journals, national and international government policy documents and reports, and credible websites. The second stage focused on the evidence-informed construction of an online supplementary program covering eight essential modules (e.g., Module 1: Foundations of Literacy Acquisition – The big picture, Module 2: Phonological Awareness, Module 3: Structured Literacy Instruction, Module 4: Phonics, Module 5: Knowledge of Diverse Reading Profiles, Module 6: Assessment, Module 7: More on Assessment, Module 8: Joining the Dots). The third stage involved collation of multi-disciplinary and end-user survey feedback from 10 participants, including education academics, a speech-language pathologist, in-service teachers and pre-service teachers, regarding the appropriateness of content, appearance, usability and credibility of the online supplementary program.
Result: Quantitative and qualitative data was analysed from a survey tool administered in stage three of this master’s project in order to profile multi-disciplinary and end-user feedback regarding the appropriateness of content, appearance, usability and credibility of the online supplementary program. Overall 78% of participants agreed that the content, appearance, usability and credibility of the eight-module supplementary program are appropriate and therefore likely to be effective in raising final-year ITE students’ knowledge and understanding of how to instruct and assess word level reading skills. Specifically, 76% of participants agreed that the content, and 95% agreed that the credibility, as thoroughly sourced and addressed in the first stage of the method, was appropriate. Further, 80% of participants agreed that the appearance, and 62.5% agreed that useability, as crafted using evidence-informed features and functions identified in stage two of the method, were appropriate. Qualitative data provided supportive comments on the helpfulness and extensiveness of the content; the importance of having visual (appearance) breaks from reading text and to consolidate understanding through multi-modal means such as the video demonstrations; the need for refinement to heighten usability satisfaction; and the value of credible and trustworthy resources.
Implications: Aligned with current Australian Government priorities, the focus of this master’s project can be viewed as one method of providing additional learning opportunities within ITE programs to ensure no pre-service teacher is left behind when it comes to teaching reading skills. As part of this project, several features for refinement were identified and are discussed to ensure such a supplement can be effectively piloted with a large cohort of final-year ITE students in the future.
Keywords: pre-service teacher education, supplementary program, supplementary course, word-level reading instruction, initial teacher education, science of word-level reading
Subject: Education thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2020
School: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Supervisor: Dr Karyn Carson