Danielle V. Dennis

Heterogeneity or Homogeneity What Assessment Data Reveal About Struggling Adolescent Readers

The confluence of No Child Left Behind and the National Reading Panel report on the five essential components of reading instruction forged a path for struggling adolescent readers that supports a narrow curriculum designed to address gaps in constrained skills. Adolescents from a large school district in the state of Tennessee who failed state assessments in reading (N = 94) were assessed using measures of phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, orthography, vocabulary, and comprehension. Factor and cluster analysis of the assessment data revealed a heterogeneous population of students. Based on three factors (meaning, rate, and word knowledge), four clusters emerged representing varying abilities.

Video as Text of Teaching: Toward More Deliberate Literacy Field Experience Supervision

ABSTRACT In this article, we theoretically explore how the deliberate use of video during literacy field experiences creates a text that can be read by triad members and can ameliorate the problem of relying on memory to engage in reflective conversations about literacy teaching and learning. The use of video, tools, and interactions with knowledgeable others to facilitate the reflection process is discussed. We also write about the ways video can be used within the triad model of supervision to develop the pedagogical content knowledge of prospective teachers, inservice teachers, and university supervisors.

Reproducing Figured Worlds of Literacy Teaching and Learning: Examining the “Language-In-Use” of an Inservice and Preservice Teacher Enacting the Practice of Literacy Planning

ABSTRACT There are international calls for teacher preparation programs to increase the quantity and quality of field experiences. The belief is that spending additional time in the field being mentored by inservice teachers will develop high-quality preservice teachers. However, the figured worlds of teacher education and the knowledge base of inservice teachers are largely left unexamined. This study took place within an urban Professional Development School and used critical discourse analysis to examine the “language-in-use” between one inservice teacher and one preservice teacher as they engaged in the planning of a literacy lesson. The authors identified the figured worlds of teacher, literacy teaching and learning, and mentoring, as interpreted from this discourse event. Findings include figured worlds of (1) teacher as the giver and withholder of knowledge; (2) literacy teaching and learning that appears inauthentic, contrived, and teacher centered; and (3) an understanding of mentoring as inservice teacher as giver of knowledge and preservice teacher as receiver. Implications for teacher education and teacher educators are discussed.

A teacher residency melds classroom theory with clinical practice

The University of South Florida has designed and initiated a two-year teacher residency program that intends to meld classroom preservice teacher instruction with work in classrooms with children from low-income and urban backgrounds. The Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program is a joint effort between the University of South Florida and Hillsborough County Public Schools. Six elementary schools are part of the program. Clinical preparation is central to the program. So is collaboration between USF faculty and the Hillsborough school district. The author calls for more study and research into the residency model for preparing preservice teachers.

Trying and reflecting: two novice teacher educators’ first attempts at guiding pre-service teachers’ reflection on literacy field experiences

ABSTRACT In Democracy and Education, Dewey aligns trying and undergoing as experience. Undergoing the consequences of trying by reflecting entails noticing and naming the details of the connections between the activity and the consequences. In this paper, we explore two novice teacher educators’ first attempts at guiding pre-service teachers (PSTs) throughout the reflection process. Using the Framework for Facilitating Reflection as a support for coaching PSTs, we analyse transcripts of 10 Teaching Cycles guided by 2 novice teacher educators in a study abroad programme. Without intentional mentoring, the teacher educators were neither successful with clarifying course content nor creating dissonance leading to the reflective process.