A literacy tutoring experience for prospective special educators and struggling second graders.

Full Abstract

This study examined the learning of teacher candidates taking a language arts course in a special-educator preparation program and that of the second graders they tutored in a supervised field component of the course. Teacher candidates' knowledge of literacy instruction was assessed using five knowledge tasks; children were assessed on several measures of basic reading and spelling skills as well as on their knowledge of phonics concepts such as syllable types. Teacher candidates generally had inaccurate perceptions of their knowledge at pretest, but their knowledge improved significantly on all tasks after course instruction. Tutored children improved significantly from pre- to posttest on all assessments. The study suggests that carefully designed literacy coursework with field experiences can benefit both prospective special educators and struggling readers.

Author information

Author/s: Spear-Swerling, Louise (L);

Affiliation: Southern Connecticut State University, Department of Special Education & Reading, Haven, CT 06515, USA. SPEARSWERLL1(-atsign-)southernct.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of learning disabilities (J Learn Disabil), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2009 Sep-Oct; vol 42 (issue 5) : pp 431-43

Dates: Created 2009/08/13; Completed 2009/10/19;

PMID: 19556428, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/19/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.