Alger, C. (2009). Content area reading strategy knowledge transfer from preservice to first-year teaching. Journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 53(1), 60-69. Retrieved from ERIC database. Summary Four first year high school teachers followed to evaluate transfer of reading strategies taught in Alger’s teacher education content literacy class to those utilized in the teachers’ high school classes Focus on number of pages read (in & out of class) by students in the class, reading strategies used, and barriers to using reading strategies Results revealed that students are required to read very little, both in and out of class, especially considering college prep courses were selected for the study Content is delivered but rarely are students involved in reading to discover this content therefore opportunities for autonomous learning almost non-existent Strengths Actual tracking, using lesson plans submitted, and teachers’ self-reporting of strategies for reading instruction were compared All four teachers graduated from the same institution’s degree program and had taken the same course on teaching reading in the secondary school course Data was gathered from teacher questionnaires, observations in the classroom, lesson plans for ten consecutive weeks of second semester, copies of all materials used in the courses that were of reading material Demographic information was included for each participating teacher Weaknesses Very small sample size, only four teachers (two biology, two English) Classes listed as college prep, yet there was mention of ELL students and others that were unable to read the class material (that doesn’t make sense to me—if they can’t read a high school text, how do they expect to go to college and read college material?) Personal Relevance As an advocate for student use of non-fiction text in content area classes I am alarmed that there was no mention of this in the study. While the English class mentioned some reading of trade books, there was no mention in the two biology classes This related directly to my PPP on increasing student motivation to read non-fiction. In order to succeed in college students will need to be more efficient users of information. Since a great deal of content is dissected by teachers then presented to students, reading non-fiction and learning to extract information is an invaluable skill Other Notes This author conducted an original research study. The methodology, data collection, and analysis were described such that the research could be duplicated accurately. The author cited many ideas from other research on the topic of content area literacy and utilization of reading strategies. The article was extremely well organized with useful headings and graphics.
I personally admire the author/researchers desire to measure the effectiveness and relevance of a college course to the real world situation. I regret that a social studies content teacher was not included This article will stay with me and give me pause as my own child enters high school next year. Having always been an avid reader, I worry that if the teachers “spoons” the content, his motivation to read and learn on his own will decrease. In so many ways, I think education has improved since I was a student, however in the reading in the content areas, I’m not so sure. We learned at a very early age to “read the chapter” so we could “answer the questions at the end of the chapter in complete sentences”. Though this was a despised activity, we learned to read large amounts of material and refer back to locate answers to specific questions. We learned how to scan material when there was too much to read. We invented the jigsaw method of cooperative learning when we split up the sections among a group of friends so we could get it all done before band practice. These skills might not have relayed the content in a most efficient manner, but we sure did learn to use text in a way that we appreciated the first quarter of college! Critiquing Your Critique: Evaluation Checklist Criterion
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Self MAF's Assessment Assessment
Provides complete APA citation (5th or 6th ed.)
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Article is current (no more than 2 years old or so)
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Briefly summarizes the article (should communicate its essence in no more than 1 paragraph)
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Explores strengths or points of agreement
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Explores weaknesses or points of disagreement
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Communicates personal relevance (describes how this article relates to you)
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Mechanics: grammar, spelling, formatting, etc.; linked to assignment page
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