41.056 - Examining the Relationship Between Teachers' Language and Literacy Knowledge and Practice in Early Childhood Classrooms

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The link between preschool teachers’ language and literacy knowledge and practice has been difficult to demonstrate, due to varying approaches to measuring teacher knowledge and practice and mixed findings regarding associations between the two. This symposium investigates two approaches to measuring preschool teachers’ language and literacy knowledge and how it relates to practice: traditional surveys and stimulated recall interviews. Study 1 investigates how changes in teachers’ scores on a survey of language and literacy knowledge relates to changes in practice. Study 2 investigates the types of knowledge teachers reported using in their moment-to-moment instruction in stimulated recall interviews. Study 3 incorporates both approaches, reporting how information from each relates to the quality of educators’ language interactions with children.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Early Education and Child Development

Chair

• Julie Dwyer, Boston University

Papers

• How Does Language and Literacy Professional Development Change Preschool Teachers' Knowledge? Evidence From the ExCELL Teacher Knowledge Assessment - Annemarie H. Hindman, Temple University; Barbara Wasik, Temple University

• What Types of Knowledge Are Used by Early Childhood Teachers to Inform Their Moment-to-Moment Instruction? - Rachel E. Schachter, University of Nebraska

• Investigating the Relationship Between Preschool Teachers' Knowledge and Practice Using Two Measures of Teacher Knowledge - Julie Dwyer, Boston University; Rachel E. Schachter, University of Nebraska; Alessandra Ward-Goldberg, Boston University

Discussant

• Tricia A. Zucker, McGovern Medical School at University of Texas Health Science Center Houston