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Exploring the Relationship betweenTeachers’ Literacy Strategy Use
and Adolescent Achievement
Kelly Feighan, Research for Better Schools
Elizabeth Heeren, Memphis City Schools
Literature that Informs the Study
• Secondary content teachers feel less effective at literacy integration than elementary teachers (Reed, 2009)
• Strategy use varies by content goal, school context, teacher preference, and student needs (Nichols, Young, & Rickelman, 2007)
• There is a paucity of research connecting strategy use and achievement (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004)
Project Context & Background
• Striving Readers Grant supported literacy integration in eight urban middle schools
• Evaluation tested the efficacy of a whole-school professional development modelon improving teaching and learning
• Intervention: university courses, onsite coaching support, instructional materials, & leadership seminar
• Literacy strategies targeted improving students’ vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency
Research Questions
• How often do teachers report using literacy strategies and which strategies are they observed using?
• Do high-fidelity implementers choose different strategies than lower-fidelity implementers?
• What are the characteristics of teachers with low, medium, or high implementation fidelity?
• How do students linked with teachers at different levels of implementation fidelity perform in academic content areas?
Intervention Teachers
•Literacy coaches rated 100 teachers on fidelity of implementation
•77% appeared > ten times in dailycoaching logs
•Teachers completed:
• Weekly checklists (96%)
• Annual survey (77%)
•41% were observed by evaluators
Coaches Rated Teachers’ Implementation Fidelity on:
• Introduction of strategies
• Modeling of strategies
• Use of guided practice
• Use of differentiated instruction
• Creating opportunities for students to practice
• Propensity to revisit strategies
Characteristics of Low, Medium, and High-Fidelity Implementers
• Analysis of implementation fidelity ratings showed that teachers fell into three categories: “low” (33%), “medium” (35%), or “high” (32%) fidelity implementers
• A greater percentage of females than males were rated as high-fidelity implementers (F=8.28; df=1,73; p<.05)
• Not related: educational level or amount of PD
• Patterns existed in teachers’ age, licensure status, and content area; however, results were not statistically significant
Characteristics of Low, Medium, and High-Fidelity Implementers
• High-fidelity implementers were more likely to report feeling prepared to (p<.05):•Model new learning strategies•Differentiate instruction•Teach students to ask before/during/after questions•Provide guided practice
• But they were not more likely than lower-fidelity implementers to report frequently using strategies
Achievement Analysis
TEACHERS
• 54 content teachers who were either inactive or low, medium, or high fidelity PD implementers
• Example: 16 ELA teachers• 5 inactive 246 students• 3 low173 students• 6 medium 284 students• 2 high116 students
STUDENTS
• 420 7th graders & 399 8th graders (N=819)
• 94.7% African American, 54.2% female, 93.7 not ELL
• 549 (66.9%) not enrolled in ELA honors classes
• Took pretest prior to intervention; post-test seven months later
Reading Scores by Teacher Implementation Fidelity Level for 7th and 8th Grade Students
*
ELA Teacher’s Implementation Fidelity Level
Not Active
Low Medium High
7th Grade Pre[standard deviation]Number of students
514.57[32.4]
90
517.05[29.5]
99
520.42[29.4]197
520.76[24.3]
34
Post 509.23[38.2]
520.14[34.5]
521.65[27.0]
509.71[35.7]
8th Grade Pre[standard deviation]Number of students
511.82[27.0]100
511.82[29.5]
74
519.34[30.4]143
525.77[23.6]
82
Post 517.66[27.0]
519.85[23.7]
525.30[25.8]
546.85[24.6]
Reading Scores by Teacher Implementation Fidelity Level for Males and Females, 8th Grade
*
ELA Teacher’s Implementation Fidelity Level
Not Active Low Medium High
Males- Pre[standard deviation]Number of students
504.59[27.46]
51
502.58[34.7]
38
513.43[33.36]
60
524.53[24.44]
30
Post 509.59[25.26]
508.68[21.96]
518.25[27.31]
547.60[24.67]
Females- Pre[standard deviation]Number of students
519.35[24.65]
49
521.58[18.73]
36
523.61[27.48]
83
526.48[23.36]
52
Post 526.06[26.49]
531.64[19.49]
530.40[23.53]
546.42[24.09]
Regression Results
• Modeled ELA teacher implementation rating on post-test reading score
• Covariates: pretest; gender (0, 1); grade (7, 8); teacher FOI score (0, 1, 2, 3); ELL status (0,1); # of days enrolled > 77
• Results: All things being equal, the teacher’s implementation level significantly and positively affected the student’s post-test reading score
• Although results were statistically significant, the effect size (0.12) was small
Further Analyses
• Measure ITBS testing outcomes
• Analyze student outcomes per teacher for multiple years prior to the intervention
• Interview high-fidelity implementers
• Collect follow-up implementation fidelity information
Contact:
Kelly Feighan, M.A.Research for Better Schools
Elizabeth Heeren, Ed.D.Memphis City Schools
