An Exploration of How Closely Upper Elementary Magnet School Reading Teachers' Perceptions of Evidence-based Practices in Reading Compared to Actual Practices in Their Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how closely upper elementary magnet school reading teachers’ perceptions of evidenced-based practices in reading compared to actual practices in their classrooms. Literacy instruction, beginning in the third grade, places more emphasis on comprehension and higher expectations on the students than in the early elementary grades. There has been little research conducted on how teacher beliefs about reading and their actual instructional practices affect reading scores on national tests. Perhaps in the understanding of teachers’ beliefs about evidenced-based practices and the actual instructional practices used in the classroom can help in the development of instructional practices that help both teachers and students to read for pleasure and enjoyment with an added bonus of information learning on the side. The surveying of teachers’ perceptions of evidence-based practices in reading relative to their actual practices in the classroom should lead to a better understanding of how evident the use of evidence-based practices in reading classrooms are to others. Three teachers were chosen from the upper elementary grades, one per grade. The central focus of the study was the classroom observations during reading instruction, interviews with the three classroom teachers, instructional coordinator interview, and a reading survey. Detailed information about teachers’ perceptions of evidence-based practices and their actual practices in the classroom and how they were interrelated was discussed.