Perceptions and Knowledge of Evidence-based Literacy Instruction among Elementary School Teachers of English Language Learners

Abstract

There is evidence that ineffective classroom instruction, particularly in the early primary grades, is a major contributor to the high incidence of reading problems in the United States. Researchers attribute poor classroom instruction to a lack of teachers’ basic understanding of the concepts related to the English language that are necessary to teach literacy. Is there a similar contributing factor related to the low literacy levels of young English language learners (ELLs) who are approaching a new language at the same time they are learning to read? The purpose of this study is to determine what elementary school teachers of ELLs perceive and know about evidence-based literacy instructional practices and their perceived ability to teach ELLs using the literacy constructs and skills necessary for reading.

To measure elementary school teachers’ knowledge and perception of their own abilities, a survey was developed with 76 items refined from multiples resources. These resources were selected due to the reliability of the items and their target investigations of studying perceptions and knowledge of basic literacy constructs. Reliability for the scores on the survey was high at 0.982. Descriptive statistics provided insight into the average and variance in performance on each item of the survey, as well as groups of items on the survey.

The results show that teachers’ perceptions of their knowledge of specific literacy constructs did not correlate positively with their performance on the items related to the knowledge of specific literacy construct areas nor with the number of years of teaching experience. This dissertation discusses survey and performance results, along with implications for improved teacher preparation.