Reading Program Problems of Beginning Elementary Classroom Teachers and Their Sources of Help
Benson, Sheryl Colbert
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/68818
Description
Title
Reading Program Problems of Beginning Elementary Classroom Teachers and Their Sources of Help
Author(s)
Benson, Sheryl Colbert
Issue Date
1982
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Elementary
Abstract
Purposes. The major purpose of this study was to identify the degree of difficulty which beginning elementary classroom teachers had including selected instructional activities in their reading programs. The second purpose of this study was to identify sources to help that beginning elementary classroom teachers employed in solving problems associated with the selected reading instructional activities. The third purpose of this study was to determine if primary and intermediate elementary classroom teachers differ in development across years of teaching experience, when selected instructional activities were categorized according to developmental stages (requirements of teaching, refinements of teaching and individualization of teaching).
Procedures. A written questionnaire, designed by the researcher, and personal interviews were the instruments used to collect the data for this study. The questionnaires were mailed to all 735 graduates of the University of Illinois Elementary or Early Childhood Program between January, 1976 and May, 1980. There were 486 graduates who returned the questionnaire. From these respondents there were 295 graduates who were elementary classroom teachers. The responses of these 295 elementary classroom teachers were used in the study.
Findings. "Individualizing reading instruction", "knowing how to differentiate between a child's learning problems and his/her psychological problems" and "motivating children to read independently" were ranked as the first through third most difficult instructional activities across all years of experience. "Other teachers at your school" was marked as the most frequently used source of help across all five years of teaching experience. The second ranking source of help by all teachers indicated that teachers did not seek any assistance when attempting to solve problems.
Results of the ANOVAs for stages one and two, requirements and refinements of teaching, showed teachers' mean scores in these stages were significantly different across years of teaching experience, but no significant difference was shown between mean scores of primary and intermediate grade level teachers. The ANOVA results for the third stage, individualization of teaching, showed primary and intermediate teachers' mean scores for the third stage were significantly different, but there was no difference across years of teaching experience.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
