The implementation of a scripted literacy program by elementary school teachers

Abstract

This interpretive phenomenological analysis examined how elementary school teachers in their first ten years of teaching implemented a commercial literacy program, and what influenced their curricular decision-making as they taught reading while using the program. Research has identified limitations of these types of programs, therefore it is important to investigate how they are used in classrooms. Five elementary school classroom teachers were interviewed about their implementation of the program, professional learning in literacy, view of best practices in teaching reading, curricular decision-making, and how they came to develop their professional knowledge surrounding literacy instruction. Shulman's (1986, 1987) theory of pedagogical content knowledge framed the study, and the dynamic interaction between curriculum program use, decision-making, and knowledge creation was examined. This research found that teachers made decisions about how to implement the literacy program based on student need, program materials, and their own personal beliefs about teaching reading. The curriculum program guides the reading curriculum in these teachers' classrooms, but in different ways based on educator fidelity to the program, level of evaluation of the program, and degree of confidence in teaching reading. Finally, most teachers were dissatisfied with the publisher-provided professional development about the program. All teachers highlighted the value of learning from other educators. This study points to the importance of an articulated literacy curriculum, formal opportunities for collaboration in support of professional growth and knowledge creation among teachers, and the need to structure new teacher induction processes to support their acquisition of best practices in reading instruction. Keywords: scripted curriculum, curricular decision-making, PCK, reading instruction, curriculum program use, elementary teachers