ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4670-739X

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

Education Specialties

First Advisor

Brett Blake

Second Advisor

Olivia Stewart

Abstract

Students are starting middle school without the foundational reading skills necessary to access the texts in their content area classes, such as science and social studies. This is causing great frustration for the teachers who feel unsure of how to help these students because they did not learn about how students learn to read in their teacher preparation courses. So, would providing teachers with the information they need about how students learn to read, foundational reading skills, and strategies to support struggling readers, change secondary teachers’ perceptions about reading and how they can help their students? This action research interviewed teachers about their knowledge of foundational reading skills, provided them with a professional development course, and followed up with final interviews to find out if their perceptions changed. The results of the study showed that secondary teachers realized how important it was to know the details of the reading process in order to view their students from a literacy lens and be able to help them successfully comprehend the texts they use in their classes.

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Education Commons

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