Susan Davis Lenski

Literacy orientation survey: A survey to clarify teachers’ beliefs and practices

Abstract The development of the Literacy Orientation Survey (LOS) is described. The LOS is an instrument for assessing teachers’ beliefs about literacy learning and classroom practices as they relate to constructivism. Content validity of the LOS was established by a panel of experts who reviewed the items, judging how well items reflected principles of constructivist approaches to literacy instruction. A draft survey of 44 items was administered to 110 teachers. Responses were factor analyzed. Thirty items, 15 belief statements and 15 practice statements, that respectively loaded at a .80 level were retained. The resulting LOS survey was administered to 30 different teachers in order to determine the reliability of the instrument. A test‐retest reliability coefficient was computed as r = .927. The LOS was subsequently administered to 95 teachers. Correlation between belief and practice items was .65. While the LOS was determined to have robust internal validity and reliability, questions remained about e...

Patterns of reading‐to‐write

Abstract The purpose of this article is to determine what patterns of researching proficient middle school students conducting a school research task use and whether the organizational pattern of the final written text follows the researching pattern. Six middle school students were interviewed and observed while they were conducting a reading‐to‐write activity. Students were interviewed before and after seven researching sessions. While they were researching, investigators took field notes and videotaped their actions to record their searching, reading, and writing strategies. From the data, individual researching profiles were established. Of the six students in the study, one used a sequential approach, four used a spiral approach, and one used a recursive approach to researching. The students who used a sequential or spiral pattern wrote summary papers, and the student who used a recursive researching pattern wrote an integrated paper. This study concludes that at least three separate researching patt...

STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE WHEN READING IN ORDER TO WRITE

Abstract Students who are asked to write research reports need to apply both social and cognitive strategic knowledge to the task. They must interpret the social context and use their knowledge of the process of researching and the content of the subject as they negotiate the complex task of reading in order to write a report. This case study describes six high‐achieving eighth‐grade students who were asked to write a short report (3‐5 pages) about a significant person they would like as a personal mentor in high school. During the seven 40‐minute sessions, the investigators used a variety of sources (field notes, student interviews on audiotapes, and videotapes) for data collection. Results indicated that the students choose their research topics rapidly and all students but one created a task impression of the assigned report with little difficulty. Interview data revealed students using both content- and procedural-related goals to accomplish their task. The social and cognitive dimensions these studen...

Informal Assessment at the Middle School Level

Because of our increased understanding of the learning process, assessment practices in todays schools are in a state of transition. No longer do we view stu dents as vessels to be filled, but rather as active inquirers. The traditional proce dure of viewing knowledge as a static entity is outmoded. As a result, the role of assessment has changed to become an exploration into the fluid processes involved in acquiring knowledge. Historically, teachers who believed that learning was a memorization activity assessed students using formal measures. Conversely, teachers who view learning as a process where students construct their own meaning through exploring thought have frequently employed informal assessment measures. Informal assessment has