Teacher Competence in Reading Tuition

Abstract

Summary In recent years the importance of the teacher in the reading process has been repeatedly asserted. This article examines some of the general implications of the relevant research and re‐analyses the only available British evidence on reading and primary education in Morris's Standards and Progress in Reading. The results of this re‐analysis suggest (1) that there is a high measure of agreement about the dimensions of teacher ‘competence’ in reading tuition; (2) that ‘competent’ teachers appear to be unequally distributed in terms of the reading attainments and socioeconomic backgrounds of the children they teach; and (3) that the definition of ‘competence’ presented by Morris is unrelated to children's reading progress.