Phonics: Foundational Knowledge and Attitudes

• In Event: Roundtable Session 95
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Perspectives on Content Area Learning, Mandated Curriculum, and Notions of Student Success

Abstract

For many years, reading researchers (Joshi, Binks, Hougen, Dahlgren, Ocker-Dean, & Smith, 2009; Moats, 1995; Spache & Baggett, 1965) have questioned pre-service teachers’ foundational knowledge of phonics and their related early career proficiency with this component of literacy. Phonics knowledge is integral to effective instruction and appropriate assessment in early reading. However, teacher-student cultural mismatches (Au, 2006; Delpit, 2006), reliance on consequential, limited assessments (Leslie & Caldwell, 2011), and pressures to attribute failure (Johnston & Allington, 1991) contribute to scenarios in which low phonics knowledge can especially disfavor students in need (Al-Hazza, Fleener & Hager, 2008). Through survey research, this study examines relationships between pre-service teachers’ knowledge of phonics and their developing attitudes toward teaching, learning, and attributing failure.

Author

• Brecca Faust, University of Maryland