Microsoft Word Pub Series 004 # Kamil doc

 

 

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In an extensive search and review of the literature on teacher education and reading 

instruction published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 30 years, we found 39 

experimental/quasi-experimental studies, and 143 descriptive studies, yielding a total of 182 

studies. Of these, only one dealt explicitly with teacher education and the literacy learning of ESL 

students (Jackson & Paratore, 1999). Two more articles, based on the same 4-year study, reported 

on two schools with the district’s highest number of Chapter 1-eligible students (55% and 50% of 

the total enrollment in each school), including limited-English-speaking children (Stallings & 

Krasavage, 1986; Stallings, Robbins, Presbrey, & Scott, 1986F). A few studies focused on 

students described as ‘at risk’ for reading failure or students referred for special-education services 

or students of diverse backgrounds, but the researchers did not report separately on L2 learners.  

In a separate search of the ERIC, PsycINFO, LLBA, and MLA databases using the 

keywords “limited English,” “language minority,” “bilingual,” “second language,” “English language 

learner,” or “ESL” in addition to “teacher education,” “preservice,” “inservice,” and “reading,” 

22 additional journal articles were found. It appears that the main body of research on teacher 

education and reading instruction does not distinguish between L1 and L2 learners. Of the 

teacher-education studies dealing with L2 learners, an extremely wide range of topics, concerns, 

and educational contexts are represented, including adult learning of English in adult basic 

education; teaching of Native American, Alaskan, and Hawaiian children; as well as the teaching 

of bilingual children in countries as diverse as Bolivia and Brunei. 

 

Reading Methods Texts  

In an effort to ascertain, albeit indirectly, what preservice and inservice teachers have 

been taught about L2 reading instruction, Bernhardt (1994) undertook an extensive survey of 

reading methods textbooks and professional journals published between 1980 and 1993. She 

concluded that teachers were not provided sufficient information on L2 learners and that reading 

methods textbooks did not always accurately reflect current research. With the exception of 

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chapters written by L2 specialists, most methods textbooks (63%) treated L2 learners as 

analogous to dialect speakers, while some (31%) placed L2 learners in a catchall category that 

included the handicapped and gifted. Both methods textbooks and professional journals do 

highlight L2-related issues in reading instruction but to varying degrees. What is often not 

discussed is the role of first-language literacy, or the lack thereof for children from nonliterate 

cultures, and culturally mediated conceptions of literacy (Bernhardt, 1994). For instance, in some 

cultures, literacy is permitted for some groups only (generally male), while in others, verbal 

displays of knowledge are not deemed appropriate. What is also lacking in the methods textbooks 

are strategies that build on the interdependent relationship between a bilingual’s two languages 

(Bernhardt, 1994). 

 

Outcomes-Based Studies Of Professional Development 

In the literature, there are generally two types of teacher-education studies: outcomes-

based studies and descriptive studies of teacher development. Outcomes-based studies measure 

the effect of teacher education by examining teacher behaviors and student achievement data. 

Fifield and Farmer (1976) described how relatively untrained Navajo teacher aides were prepared 

to provide supplementary instruction to Navajo children experiencing difficulties in reading. The 

training program was specific in its use of materials, modeling, drills, monitoring, and 

reinforcement. In this quasi-experiment, the children who had the greatest difficulty in language 

and reading were assigned to supplementary instruction delivered by Navajo teacher aides. These 

children made gains in word-recognition skills compared to a control group, and qualitative data 

on the teacher aides and the children’s attitudes showed positive results. The researchers 

concluded that relatively untrained teacher aides can be prepared to deliver supplementary 

instruction to help Navajo children experiencing difficulty in language and reading (Fifield & 

Farmer, 1976). 

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Studies of two projects reported that teachers improved in their instructional skills, while 

students made significant gains in reading. One project (designed to improve instruction and 

classroom management) included a control group, but the students were not randomly assigned. 

Results showed that the limited-English-speaking (LES) students benefited from the program, 

Madeline Hunter’s Instructional Theory into Practice (Stallings & Krasavage, 1986; Stallings, 

Robbins, et al., 1986). The LES students gained more each year in reading and math than the 

other children in the study (Stallings, Robbins, et al., 1986). However, by the fourth year of the 

project, 7 out of the 10 teachers’ implementation scores had dropped, and the students’ reading 

and math scores also dropped significantly in the fourth year, compared to the control group. Still, 

the LES children gained more than the English-speaking children (Stallings & Krasavage, 1986).  

The second project was a small-scale early intervention project emphasizing readable 

stories, rereading of familiar books, and phonological awareness. The results were modest, with 5 

out of 11 mostly ESL students achieving a 90% accuracy score as measured by performance on 

the Reading Recovery Level 9 primer text (Jackson & Paratore, 1999). The teachers implemented 

most of the components of the intervention, but segmenting sounds using word frames and guided 

writing were not well implemented. Although the intervention failed to bring all of the second 

graders severely delayed in reading to or near grade level, it did create conditions in which they 

met success.  

 

Description of Effective Professional Development  

Various instructional strategies were reported to be effective for different populations in a 

wide range of teacher education contexts. Overall, a trend in teacher preparation favors a 

balanced approach, integrating reading and writing, as well as skills and meaning-based 

instruction. For instance, Perez (1993) examined the successful literacy practices of four bilingual 

whole-language teachers with the purpose of including these best practices in bilingual teacher 

education programs. A number of exemplary instructional behaviors emerged. These included 

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