Table Of Content

' MANDATEDLITERACYPROGRAMS: HOWTEACHERSREACT By NANCYRANKIESHELTON * ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY ' --v.-i... UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA ^ •'V 2003 1 Copyright2003 by NancyRankieShelton ThisdissertationisdedicatedtochildreninschoolsacrossAmericawhosufferthrough unwarranted,overemphasizedskillinstructionwhileweprofessionaleducatorsareforced bypoliticianstoremoveourfocusfromyoutoTheTest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thisresearchcouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutthecooperationofthe teachersandadministratorsatShoalsElementary. Iammostgratefultothefourteachers fortheirhonesty,theirwillingnesstosharetheirteachingandstudents,andforopening theirclassroomsuptomeforthedurationoftheproject. Ialsoappreciatethecurriculum resourceteacherandtheprincipal,forwithouttheirsupportandparticipation,theproject wouldnothavebeencomplete. Ialsothankmycommitteemembers,Drs.DanlingFu,LindaLamme,Richard AllingtonandJamesMcLeskey. Forthepastseveralyearstheyhavesupportedme, challengedme,andhelpedmeunderstandnewswaysofunderstandingteaching,learning andresearch. Each,inhis/herownfieldofexpertise,hascontributedgreatlytomy developmentasaprofessional,pushingmebeyondnormalboundariestoreachahigher levelofunderstanding. Iwouldberemissinnotthankingmystudygroup. Fortwoyearswehaveheld eachotherup,sharingteaandtheories. XeniaHadjioannou,JirapomDhanarattigannon, MarylouMatoush,StephanieSullivanLytleandKateKisshaveallhelpedmethrough oneofthemostchallengingendeavorsinmylife. ThreeteacherswithwhomIhaveworkeddeservespecialthanks. LouisaMerrill wasmydirectingteacherandfortwelveyearshasencouragedmetocompletemy doctorate. CassieM."Lisa"JacobsandGloriaJeanMerriexweremycolleaguesat iv CharlesW.DuvalElementarySchool. Togetherwehavegrownasprofessional educatorssupportingandchallengingeachothereverystepoftheway. Finally,Ithankmyfamily. Theirpatienceandsupportthroughthepastdecade havebeenmysourcestrength. Myparents,siblings(especiallyCarol,whoactedasmy copyeditor),Tabithaandmostofallmyhusband,Jack,andson,Conrad,havenever waveredinloveandsupport. TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS T. iv LISTOFTABLES ix CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUNDFORTHESTUDY 1 WhatisLiteracy? 4 i StatementoftheProblem 5 PurposeoftheStudy 8 i SignificanceoftheStudy 8 ] 2 REVIEWOFLITERATURE 10 PoliticalClimate 10 PolicyandTeacherChange 19 ReadingInstruction 24 SocialConstructivistTheoryofLanguageDevelopment 27 SkillsApproach 30 RecentResearch 35 3 THESTUDY 38 PhenomenologicalCaseStudy 38 Researcher'sPerspective 40 ContextoftheStudy 45 TheSchool 45 TheClassrooms 46 ReadingMastery 50 Teacherdirectedlessons 53 , Independentwork—reading 56 ^ Workchecks 57 ' TheParticipants 58 DataSources 63 Interviews 63 ParticipantObservation 65 DataAnalysis 66 vi TheFieldNotesAnalysis InterviewData 4 ADAYWITHREADINGMASTERY. Mrs.Phillips Mrs.Zeigler Mr.Wright Mrs.Jones 5 DISCONNECTEDENVIRONMENT DrillingExercises 1 WordStudy 115 SporadicReading 117 CheckingComprehension 120 DepersonalizedTeachingandLearning 126 EmotionallyDrainedTeachers 127 CurriculumDrivenbyTestScores 130 Students'IndividualNeedsGoUnmet 134 Summary 138 6 LOSSOFCONTROL 139 DecisionsUnderPressure 139 LiteracyDevelopment 139 StrugglingReaders 142 StateMandatesIncrease 148 TheTeachers'ViewsonLiteracyDevelopment 157 TeachersBecomeTechnicians 165 "WeAreBuildingVocabulary" 165 "ItDoesn'tTeach" 171 "ItIsNotaBuildingBlockofReading" 177 "IsThisGoingtoHelpThem?" 182 Summary 187 7 MANDATES: FOR-PROFITPOLICYPUSH 189 SummaryoftheStudy 189 Discussion 192 ProgramsDon'tTeach 193 IssuesofControl 194 DebateisaGoodThing 195 CorporateandPoliticalInterests 198 LISTOFREFERENCES 202 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 210 viii 7 LISTOFTABLES Table Eage 2-1. FourDimensionsofTeachingandTheirRelationshiptoChange 22 4-1. Thirdgradeteachers'reading/languageartsschedules: 74 4-2. Fourthgradeteachers'reading/languagearts: 74 4-3. Participantsataglance 75 6-1. Mrs.PhillipsaccordingtoBascia&Hargreaves 168 6-2. Mrs.ZeigleraccordingtoBascia&Hargreaves 176 6-3. Mr.WrightaccordingtoBascia&Hargreaves 181 6-4. Mrs.JonesaccordingtoBascia&Hargreaves 185 ix AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy MANDATEDLITERACYPROGRAMS: HOWTEACHERSCOPEANDTHE IMPACTONSTUDENTS By NancyRankieShelton May2003 Chairperson: DanlingFu MajorDepartment: TeachingandLearning Thecurrentpoliticalclimateineducationemphasizestheneedtoimprovetest scoresofstudentsandtousethesescorestoincreasetheaccountabilitymeasurespressure onschools. Infocusingourattentionontestscores,weoftenlosesightoftheclassroom. Theteachersandstudentsintheclassroomshavebeensilenced,forgotten,andleftto fendforthemselvesaftertheexternalmandateshavebeenimposedonthem. Thisqualitativestudydescribestheteachingexperiencesoffourclassroomsinan elementaryschoolwheretheliteracyprogramwasmandatedbytheprincipal. The participatingteacherswereengagedineffortstoprovideinstructionfortheirstudentsthat metthedemandsoftheadministration,atthesametimethattheystruggledwiththeir understandingoftheliteracyneedsoftheirstudents. Ananalysisoftheteachers' understandingofliteracydevelopmentandhowbesttosupportitsdevelopmentinthe classroomdidnotmatchthecontentandstructureofliteracyprogramtheywererequired X