Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
John B. Lustig
Committee Member
Karen Kamin
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
balanced reading, classroom practice, educational reform, elementary schools, guided reading, instructional practice, interviews, lesson plans, literacy instruction, monthly workshops, observations, post reading, prereading, professional development, professional study groups, reading instruction, reading strategies, reflection, self-assessment, study groups, teacher collaboration, teacher education, teacher perceptions, teacher training, teachers, transfer of learning
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to assess the impact of professional study groups on educational reform efforts. The problem was that although teachers at the elementary school were being provided training in balanced reading strategies, they were not integrating the new strategies into their instructional practice.
Teachers at the school volunteered to participate in study groups centered on the topic of balanced reading. Prior to implementation, teachers attended a 4-hour training session to learn about professional study groups. The teachers attended monthly workshops to review strategies used in balanced reading: prereading, guided reading, and post reading. They had the opportunity to practice these strategies in their classrooms before coming together as a study group to discuss and reflect on the implementation of the newly learned strategies. The researcher attended all workshops and study group meetings.
Before and after implementation of the intervention, teachers completed a self-assessment that indicated how familiar they were with the components of balanced reading. The researcher reviewed lesson plans monthly and conducted pre- and postimplementation observations to determine the extent to which teachers were integrating balanced reading strategies into their instructional practice. At the conclusion of the study, the researcher conducted interviews with the teachers to gather their perceptions about study groups.
Data from the teacher self-assessments, lesson plans, observations, and interviews provided evidence that the teachers’ participation in professional study groups helped to increase the transfer of strategies learned during professional development sessions into instructional practice. Based on the successful implementation of this applied dissertation, participating teachers have chosen to continue meeting in professional study groups throughout the summer and during the next school year.