Literacy In Teacher Preparation And Practice

Few resources exist to give literacy teacher educators a comprehensive view of effective, innovative practices in their field, making this uniquely practical volume an important addition to the literature. Each chapter describes research findings and pedagogical methods, with an emphasis on what teachers really need to know to succeed. Woven into the text are more than 30 detailed activities and assignments to support teacher development, written by outstanding teacher educators. Links to professional teaching standards and the Common Core State Standards are highlighted throughout. Supplemental materials, including forms, checklists, and handouts, can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

Online education has become a prevalent means of program and course delivery, especially within teacher education programs. However, the lack of preparation in online design is concerning, especially in the field of teacher education where the focus is preparing preservice and practicing teachers to implement effective, evidence-based instructional strategies. Effective Practices in Online Teacher Preparation for Literacy Educators is an essential scholarly resource that shares innovative ideas for translating face-to-face reading/literacy specialist preparation into effective online instruction for courses in literacy education. Highlighting various topics such as instructional design, teacher education, and literacy assessment, this book is ideal for instructors, curriculum developers, instructional designers, IT specialists, education professionals, instructors, administrators, academicians, and researchers.

Today, the meaning of literacy, what it means to be literate, has shifted dramatically. Literacy involves more than a set of conventions to be learned, either through print or technological formats. Rather, literacy enables people to negotiate meaning. The past decade has witnessed increased attention on multiple literacies and modalities of learning associated with teacher preparation and practice. Research recognizes both the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the new globalized society and the new variety of text forms from multiple communicative technologies. There is also the need for new skills to operate successfully in the changing literate and increasingly diversified social environment. Linguists, anthropologists, educators, and social theorists no longer believe that literacy can be defined as a concrete list of skills that people merely manipulate and use. Rather, they argue that becoming literate is about what people do with literacy—the values people place on various acts and their associated ideologies. In other words, literacy is more than linguistic; it is political and social practice that limits or creates possibilities for who people become as literate beings. Such understandings of literacy have informed and continue to inform our work with teachers who take a sociological or critical perspective toward literacy instruction. Importantly, as research indicates, the disciplines pose specialized and unique literacy demands. Disciplinary literacy refers to the idea that we should teach the specialized ways of reading, understanding, and thinking used in each academic discipline, such as science, mathematics, engineering, history, or literature. Each field has its own ways of using text to create and communicate meaning. Accordingly, as children advance through school, literacy instruction should shift from general literacy strategies to the more specific or specialized ones from each discipline. Teacher preparation programs emphasizing different disciplinary literacies acknowledge that old approaches to literacy are no longer sufficient. Literacy in Teacher Preparation and Practice: Enabling Individuals to Negotiate Meaning introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful, research-based works by authors that represent current thinking about literacy across disciplines and the preparation of teachers to enter classrooms. Each chapter focuses on teaching guided by literacies across disciplines and the preparation of teachers who will enter classrooms to instruct the next generation of students.

Data literacy has become an essential skill set for teachers as education becomes more of an evidence-based profession. Teachers in all stages of professional growth need to learn how to use data effectively and responsibly to inform their teaching practices. This groundbreaking resource describes data literacy for teaching, emphasizing the important relationship between data knowledge and skills and disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge. Case studies of emerging programs in schools of education are used to illustrate the key components needed to integrate data-driven decisionmaking into the teaching curricula. The book offers a clear path for change while also addressing the inherent complexities associated with change. Data Literacy for Educators provides concrete strategies for schools of education, professional developers, and school districts. Book Features: Defines data literacy for teaching and outlines the knowledge and skills it comprises. Uses examples and case studies that tie theory to practice. Provides a roadmap for integrating data literacy into teacher preparation programs. Covers emerging trends, such as virtual and hybrid courses and massive open online courses. “This thoughtful, well-organized book raises the challenges that beginning and experienced teachers face in becoming more data literate to increase their pedagogical effectiveness in their classrooms.” —From the Foreword by Barbara Schneider “Deans of colleges of education, practicing teachers, education advocates, and many others will find useful information here.” —Benjamin Riley, Deans for Impact “This work should join the ‘common core’ of teacher education and professional development programs.” —Lee S. Shulman, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching “The authors lay out a compelling call to action to ensure that every teacher in this country has the skills, knowledge, and disposition in knowing how to use data to inform effective teaching.” —Aimee Rogstad Guidera, Data Quality Campaign

As it stands, there is currently a void in education literature in how to best prepare preservice teachers to meet the needs of individualized learners across multiple learning platforms, social/economical contexts, language variety, and special education needs. The subject is in dire need of support for the ongoing improvement of administrative, clinical, diagnostic, and instructional practices related to the learning process. The Handbook of Research on Reconceptualizing Preservice Teacher Preparation in Literacy Education stimulates the professional development of preservice and inservice literacy educators and researchers. This book also promotes the excellence in preservice and inservice literacy both nationally and internationally. Discussing topics such as virtual classrooms, critical literacy, and teacher preparation, this book serves as an ideal resource for tenure- track faculty in literacy education, clinical faculty, field supervisors who work with preservice teacher educators, community college faculty, university faculty who are in the midst of reconceptualizing undergraduate teacher education curriculum, mentor teachers working with preservice teachers, district personnel, researchers, students, and curricula developers who wish to understand the needs of preservice teacher education.

Literacy Teacher Educators: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World brings together the perspectives of 26 literacy/English teacher educators from four countries: Canada, U.S., UK, and Australia. In this unique text the contributors, of whom many are renowned experts in critical literacy and multiliteracies, provide readers with an overview of trends in literacy/English teacher education. The chapters begin with authors’ personal stories and current research, giving readers insight into the personal and professional worlds of the contributors. Included in each chapter is a rich description of approaches to literacy instruction in teacher education. These exemplary teacher educators show in concrete detail how they are addressing our evolving understanding of literacy . This timely text, written in a highly engaging style, will be of value to teacher educators throughout the world. I have never read anything quite like this book. It contains explicit representations of the conceptual frames and work of distinguished literacy teacher educators at various stages in their careers, accounts that provide a strong counter-narrative to the mainstream discourse in policy and education, that fully embrace the uncertainties and complexities of practice." From the Forward by Susan L. Lytle, Professor Emerita of Education in the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

Basic reading proficiency is key to success in all content areas, but attending to students’ literacy development remains a challenge for many teachers, especially after the primary grades. Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading presents recommendations for the essential knowledge about the development, acquisition, and teaching of language and literacy skills that teachers need to master and use. This important book is one result of an initiative of the National Academy of Education's Committee on Teacher Education, whose members have been charged with the task of creating a core knowledge base for teacher education.

Data literacy has become an essential skill set for teachers as education becomes more of an evidence-based profession. Teachers in all stages of professional growth need to learn how to use data effectively and responsibly to inform their teaching practices. This groundbreaking resource describes data literacy for teaching, emphasizing the important relationship between data knowledge and skills and disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge. Case studies of emerging programs in schools of education are used to illustrate the key components needed to integrate data-driven decisionmaking into the teaching curricula. The book offers a clear path for change while also addressing the inherent complexities associated with change. Data Literacy for Educators provides concrete strategies for schools of education, professional developers, and school districts.