Cathy Collins Block

A Study of Effective First-Grade Literacy Instruction

Literacy instruction in first-grade classrooms in five U.S. locales was observed. Based on academic engagement and classroom literacy performances, the most-effective-for-locale and least-effective-for-locale teachers were selected. The teaching of the most-effective-for-locale teachers was then analyzed, including in relation to the teaching of the least-effective-for-locale teachers. The classrooms headed by most-effective-for-locale teachers were characterized by excellent classroom management based on positive reinforcement and cooperation; balanced teaching of skills, literature, and writing; scaffolding and matching of task demands to student competence; encouragement of student self-regulation; and strong cross-curricular connections. In general, these outcomes did not support any theory that emphasizes just one particular component (e.g., skills instruction, whole language emphasis) as the key to effective Grade 1 literacy; rather, excellent Grade 1 instruction involves multiple instructional components articulated with one another.

The ABCs of Performing Highly Effective Think-Alouds

The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with examples of how to perform effective think-alouds. Twelve think-alouds are described. A rationale for their use in kindergarten through grade 5 is also included. In addition, this article was designed to provide teachers with lessons and activities to assist students in developing the ability to perform think-alouds independently, without teacher prompting. The last section of the article provides teachers with methods of assessing think-alouds.

CPMs: A Kinesthetic Comprehension Strategy

This article discusses a study to determine whether primary grade students can learn comprehension processes via hand motions to portray these mental processes. Comprehension Process Motions (CPMs) were designed to provide students with a way to make abstract comprehension processes more consciously accessible and also to give teachers a way to observe what students have (or have not) comprehended. Results were based on a 12-week study of 257 experimental and 256 control students in grades K–5. Comprehension scores on standardized, criterion-referenced, and norm-referenced tests were significantly higher for experimental students than for those who were not exposed to CPM instruction. These data provide evidence that even the youngest readers are capable of internalizing comprehension processes and knowing how to elicit them at specific points in a text when they are needed.

The Expertise of Adolescent Literacy Teachers.

The purpose of the study described in this article was to identify the qualities of teaching expertise that correlate with highly effective literacy instruction in grades 6 through 12. Findings draw on survey responses of secondary literacy supervisors at the local school district or state department of education level in every U.S. state. From these responses, 397 characteristics of teaching expertise were analyzed and collapsed into 38 categorical behaviors. After interrater reliabilities were computed, researchers returned to analyze and consolidate the data. This process yielded the following eight domains of secondary literacy teaching expertise: •Approaches to teaching (pedagogy) •Addressing diverse needs •Personal characteristics •Knowledge base •Approaches to teaching (activities) •Professional development •Appropriate relationships with students •Classroom management Applications of these data for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

What Matters Most in Distinguished Literacy Teacher Education Programs

This study is a research collaborative conducted with multiple sites to examine the programmatic features within six literacy teacher education programs that have received the Certificate of Distinction of the International Reading Association (IRA). The objectives were to identify the features that were most highly ranked by internal and external experts and to delineate specific examples of how the features were actualized. A classical Delphi method was applied, and participants included leading literacy faculty members at each of the six institutions, the internal experts (n = 18), and members of program review teams identified by IRA, the external experts (n = 3). Analyses of results revealed that 14 programmatic features ranked higher in value than others at a statistically significant level. The study found that the internal and external literacy teacher education experts agreed on the most highly valued programmatic factors. These include the importance of relevant field experiences, the development of teacher candidates’ abilities to teach and assess children through a wide variety of instructional strategies and assessment instruments, and ways to integrate literacy and language strategies throughout the curriculum.

Michael Pressley's Educational Legacy and Directions He Identified for Future Research in Reading Instruction

The purpose of this article is to document the legacy and continuing influence of Michael Pressleys work in the field of reading research and instruction. Descriptions are provided to demonstrate how he translated his data from the cognitive sciences into highly effective pedagogy. A second component of this article discusses how Michael Pressley, throughout his career, continuously collected converging evidence through multiple research methodologies to examine single, complex educational issues. The article concludes by presenting research agendas that Mike was pursuing near the end of his career and how these initiatives provide new directions for reading research, policy, and classroom practices today. His contemporary research focused on how to improve multiple comprehension strategy instruction so it could become an even greater, central component in K–12 curricula; how to expand the application of basic research in cognitive strategy instruction to classroom practices; and, how to assess reading comprehension more effectively.