Piret Soodla

The effects of children’s reading skills and interest on teacher perceptions of children’s skills and individualized support

This study examined the effects of children’s reading skills and interest in reading-related tasks on teacher perceptions of children’s literacy skills (reading and spelling) and the respective individualized support for children during the first two years of formal schooling. The participants were 334 children and their classroom teachers. Identical measures were administered at three time points (at the beginning of Grade 1 and at the end of Grades 1 and 2). Children’s reading skills were assessed with the word reading fluency test, and their interest in reading was assessed with self-reports. Also, teachers evaluated each child’s level of reading and spelling skills and reported the level of individual literacy support they provided. The results showed that children’s poor skills in reading at the beginning of Grade 1 were related to both teacher perceptions of children’s skills as being poor and to increased support at the end of Grade 1. In turn, teacher perceptions of children’s skills as being poor at the end of Grade 1 were related to more support at the end of Grade 2. Moreover, children’s reading skills at the beginning of school had an indirect effect via teacher perceptions at the end of Grade 1 on teacher support in Grade 2. The findings underscore the importance of examining the role of teacher perceptions in providing individualized support during literacy activities.

Teacher Judgments of Student Reading and Math Skills: Associations With Child- and Classroom-Related Factors

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to examine whether students’ linguistic skills and task-avoidant behavior (i.e., the child-related factors) and the mean level of academic skills (reading comprehension and math) of classmates (i.e., the class-related factor) are associated with teacher judgments of children’s reading comprehension and math skills. The participants were third-grade Estonian-speaking students (n = 656; age 9−11 years) and their classroom teachers (n = 51). The results of the structural equation modeling path analyses indicated that teachers tend to judge students showing higher academic and linguistic skills and lower avoidance behavior as higher on the reading comprehension and math skills. In contrast, the classmates’ higher academic skill level was related to lower judgments of individual children’s reading comprehension and math skills by teachers.

Reading comprehension from grade 1 to 6 in two shallow orthographies: comparison of Estonian and Finnish students

Abstract The aim was to examine reading comprehension among elementary school students in two shallow orthographies, Estonian and Finnish. Participants were 619 Estonian children (50% boys) and 292 Finnish children (52% boys) whose reading comprehension was assessed in first, second, third, and sixth grades. The results showed that reading comprehension among Estonian and Finnish children was at a similar level by the end of first grade but Finnish children started to have better performance from second grade onward. These findings suggest that the roots of Finnish students’ strong reading skills are nurtured from the very beginning of elementary school. The potential cross-country differences in reading instruction are discussed.