The Informational Text Structure Survey (ITS2): An Exploration of Primary-Grade Teachers' Sensitivity to Text Structure in Young Children's Informational Texts

• In Event: 75.021 - Text Difficulty, Genre, and Medium Effects on Reading

Abstract

There has been no research reported about how well primary grade teachers can identify information text structures in informational texts. The ability to do so accurately and reliably is a prerequisite for teachers to be able to teach students text structure knowledge. This study reports the development of the Informational Text Structure Survey (ITS2) to investigate the knowledge of primary grade teachers to reliably identify traditional expository text structures in informational texts prior to and after training. Prior to training, primary grade teachers demonstrated low accuracy and reliability in identifying traditional expository text structures. Results after training with the ITS2 instrument showed significant improvements in the teachers’ accuracy and reliability in identifying traditional expository text structures in informational texts.

Author

• D. Ray Reutzel, Utah State University