LITERACY INSTRUCTION IN 9 FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOMS - TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS AND STUDENT-ACHIEVEMENT

Classroom observations and in-depth interviews were used to study 9 fi rst-grade teachers from 4 districts who had been nominated by language -arts coordinators as outstanding (N = 5) or typical (N = 4) in their ability to help students develop literacy skills. Based on observation al measures of student reading and writing achievement and student eng agement, 3 groups of teachers emerged from the original 9. The followi ng practices and beliefs distinguished the instruction of the 3 teache rs (2 nominated as outstanding, I as typical) whose students demonstra ted the highest levels on these measures: (a) coherent and thorough in tegration of skills with high-quality reading and writing experiences, (b) a high density of instruction (integration of multiple goals zn a single lesson), (c) extensive use of scaffolding, (d) encouragement o f student self-regulation, (e) a thorough integration of reading and w riting activities, (f) high expectations for all students, (g) masterf ul classroom management, and (h) an awareness of their practices and t he goals underlying them. Teaching practices observed in 7 of the 9 cl assrooms are also discussed. The data reported here highlight the comp lexity of primary literacy instruction and support the conclusion that effective primary-level literacy instruction is a balanced integratio n of high-quality reading and writing experiences and explicit instruc tion of basic Literacy skills.