This is The Reading Instruction Show. I'm your
host, Dr. Andy Jonson. Topic of today's show,
legitimate professional development for teachers
of reading. Now, expert reading teachers have
a specialized body of content knowledge related
to reading. The International Literacy Association,
they have a set of standards. for literacy slash
reading specialist and describes knowledge in
several areas. I've adopted and adopted some
of these and identified six types of knowledge
required to be an expert reading teacher. But
before you send me emails about how kindly old
Miss Peterson taught kids to read for 35 years,
let me clarify. Yes. You can be a very good teacher
of reading to many children without having a
fully developed knowledge base in some of the
six areas that I'll describe. But to be an expert
reading teacher, one needs to be able to make
the best decision for all students in all phases
of literacy instruction. An expert reading teacher
has the knowledge and skills to enable all children
to develop their full literacy potential. This
teacher prepares all students to be able to read,
write, and think in the real world, to use literacy
for authentic purposes in the real world. And
this is far different from preparing them to
take the next standardized test. Here are the
six areas one needs to know, needs to have knowledge
in. Number one, human literacy learning. This
is theories of human learning and development
related to literacy. Two, literacy processes,
the processes used by the brain to create meaning
with print and use print to create meaning from
both a cognitive and neurocognitive perspective.
Number three, literacy methods, the different
methods or approaches to teach reading and writing.
Number four, literacy pedagogy. These are the
research -based strategies related to literacy
learning and how and when to use them. Number
five, literacy research. How to read research
as well as a familiarity with the wide -body
literacy -related research. And last one, number
six, literacy assessment. and diagnosis. This
includes such things as miscue analysis, running
records, qualitative reading inventories, authentic
assessments, as well as the strengths and limitations
of standardized tests. Now let me say that legitimate
professional development for teachers is necessary.
We don't create finished teaching products in
three semesters of any teacher preparation program.
Now I use the word legitimate, legitimate professional
development to exclude programs and services
that are profit -based. These are usually little
more than infomercials disguised as professional
development. Here there is no check and balance,
there is no blind peer review of the information
provided, and only the information that supports
their product or service is presented. Information
that does not, is not. The best example of this
is letters professional development for teachers.
There is no legitimate research provided to suggest
that letters A enhances students reading achievement,
B enhances teachers ability to teach effectively,
and C is more effective than other types of professional
development. And remember, having elements that
are supported by research doesn't make the program
research based. Every program has some element
that can be supported by research. Now, with
legitimate professional development for reading,
you will very rarely encounter a magic method,
formula, program, or product. Instead, legitimate
professional development for reading instruction
provides the six types of knowledge I just described.
Teachers won't simply be given a list of pedagogical
skills or a program to follow with fidelity.
Instead, they'll be provided with an understanding
of how all phases of literacy learning occurs
along supporting research -based theories and
a variety of pedagogical skills that they can
then adopt and adapt as needed. Effective professional
development also enables teachers to develop
their professional knowledge and skills in the
context of the classroom practice. Now, I recognize
my own bias here, but good professional development
still comes from accredited graduate programs
in education where professors have spent significant
time, our whole professional lives, immersed
in research related to the field. Knowledge is
important. These types of programs are usually
aligned with the International Literacy Association
standards and informed by a wide body of research
-based knowledge in a variety of ways. But most
importantly, this type of professional development
is not influenced by motives. For example, with
a legitimate graduate class offered by a real
professor, that professor is not bound only by
what a body of research has determined to be
best practice. They don't get paid more for saying
some things or not saying other things. And their
courses continue to evolve. That is, as they
continue to learn and do scholarly work, review
research, and teach students, their knowledge
basic sands and their thinking changes on issues.
This. enables them to make the change from semester
to semester or even from week to week. Now compare
this with the rigid type curriculum or programs
offered by letters and their one -size -fits
-all professional development. Here, the same
information is presented the same way in the
same order for years. It's done this way in California,
Minnesota, Boston. Only when sales begin to slip
will there be revisions. Now, what about professors
who use their books in courses like you? Like
me? Aren't I making money off my books? That's
a good question. Let's look at profit. In the
field of education, professors who write books
are rare. And that's because academic writing
is hard work. It takes a lot of time and an enormous
amount of thinking space, and most professors
who work in teacher preparation programs have
three or four classes to teach every semester.
Besides, the time spent teaching one to three
hours is typically necessary to prepare for each
class period. You must also read assignments,
communicate with students, and provide service
to the department, college, and field. Blah,
blah, blah, blah. And to be relevant, they must
continue to read and synthesize the latest research
in the field and publish in academic journals.
Writing a book like I have requires a great deal
of time to think, plan, read research articles
and related books and take notes. And that's
before the actual reading starts. Now I'm able
to do it because I don't have many interests
outside of literacy instruction, except for playing
the euphonium. But the truth is, I would make
more money per hour working at a fast food restaurant
than I do writing this book. Most professors
earn very little for book royalties, and most
colleges and universities have a system in place
for getting approval when students are required
to purchase their materials. Well, if you don't
pick me, why do you write books? Again, good
question. Four reasons. First, most often there
is not an adequate textbook to use. They're too
expensive, full of too much stuff, or don't contain
the right information. And second, I write to
contribute to the field. Hopefully, my ideas
will add to the greater conversation in some
small way. And third, it's part of my job. The
state of Minnesota pays me to be curious about
literacy things, to find out and then to write
about them. That's called scholarship, scholarly
work. And fourth, all people are not always motivated
by money. Some people are motivated, some people
are motivated simply to do the right thing. And
the field of education tends to attract these
kinds of people. What about programs? Accredited
graduate programs at universities can provide
good professional development for teachers. And
of course, accredited graduate programs differ
in quality. One of the ways to determine the
quality of a graduate program is to look at the
publishing record of the professors teaching
in the program. Have they been published? Publishing
books and journal articles requires that one
read and synthesize the latest research in the
field. If they've never published, what makes
them relevant? What about the liberal agenda?
Conservative pundits often accuse professors
of pushing a liberal agenda. It's the liberal
agenda! They're teaching the liberal agenda!
I'm not quite sure what that is. What's an example
of a liberal agenda? But just saying this is
an example of anecdotal evidence and I think
of them. What is a liberal agenda? Define your
terms. What specific things are said or done?
And do you have any data to support a proposition
that professors push a liberal agenda? Do you
have any evidence to suggest that we brainwash
students? I wish I was that powerful. If I had
the power to brainwash students, they would certainly
study more and they would start their assignments
much earlier. Now I've spent over 30 years in
higher education. I have yet to encounter a professor
with a liberal agenda or one who brings politics
into their courses. must have a research -based
agenda or a knowledge -based agenda. But even
if I knew what a liberal agenda was, I simply
don't have time or space in my courses to have
a liberal agenda. Too many standards. So the
last thing is action research. Action research
is an effective, efficient, and economic way
to take research directly to classroom practice.
Action research defining my terms is a systematic
observation of some element of one's own teaching
practice. Action research would serve to create
learning specific to each teacher's classroom
and an educational resource, connect research
directly to classroom practice, and generally
improve the professional status of teachers.
I will be writing more about this in book number
two. This is the reading instruction show I,
Dr. Andy Johnson.