Getting KnERDI With Language: Examining Educators' Knowledge for Teaching Early Reading

• In Event: Poster Session 2: Teaching Strategies for Early/Elementary Readers and Writers

Abstract

There is broad consensus that specialized content and pedagogical knowledge is required for elementary teachers instructing young children to read, including knowledge in two domains: word reading and language/comprehension skills. In this study we report on the development and evaluation of a new instrument to measure elementary educators’ knowledge in both domains. We present the results of measures of the instrument’s reliability and validity, including findings from a confirmatory factor analysis to investigate dimensionality. Our results demonstrate that although our instrument provides valid and reliable subscores in both domains, discriminant validity results support the hypothesis that elementary literacy educator knowledge is unidimensional. We suggest implications for use of such knowledge inventories and directions for future research.

Authors

• Courtney Wood Samuelson, North Carolina State University

• Dennis S. Davis, North Carolina State University

• Jill F Grifenhagen, North Carolina State University

• Robyn DeIaco, North Carolina State University

• Jackie Eunjung Relyea, North Carolina State University