<p> Historically, new teachers have entered the profession woefully underprepared to immediately be highly effective, primary literacy teachers. The twenty-first century has brought to education extensive reforms in literacy instruction, but are teacher preparation programs keeping up? This research examines the varying levels of perceived preparedness with which new primary teachers are entering the profession. The researcher surveyed K-3 teachers throughout three districts of varying sizes in a northwestern state. The survey focused on determining teachers' perceptions of their levels of preparedness in literacy instruction in general, as well as in the core literacy elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension. The data collection portion of the survey differentiated between new teachers in their first 3 years, practiced teachers with 4-10 years of experience, and veteran teachers with 11 or more years of experience. The practiced and veteran teachers were asked to reflect upon their preparation and their first years of teaching when answering the survey questions. The researcher completed a comparative analysis of the three groups to determine if there has been improvement over time in perceived levels of preparedness for literacy instruction. The survey results determined that this sample population has, in fact, indicated an improvement in the level of literacy-related teacher preparation. This improvement better enables new teachers to be highly effective in primary literacy instruction, to the great benefit of their students.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3643018 |
| Date | 11 November 2014 |
| Creators | Eller, Amanda |
| Publisher | Northwest Nazarene University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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