Document Type

Unpublished Paper - Public

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions about literacy preparation of recent graduates from NLU’s multiple teacher preparation programs. Specifically, the researchers surveyed NLU students who graduated between 2014-17 to determine which literacy concepts/practices they felt were most important in their first year of teaching and how well prepared they were to teach those concepts/practices. In addition, graduates were asked to consider the instructional practices they encountered during their NLU coursework and whether these practices were helpful in learning to teach literacy. Graduates were also asked to consider how well prepared they were to teach literacy in general. Initial analysis of data led the researchers to conclude the following: 1) Perception of preparedness varies by programs, with students in programs that implement more practice-based literacy learning reporting far better preparedness than students in the other programs; 2) Across programs, students find practice-based classroom experiences to be more helpful than more traditional experiences; 3) In several programs, high numbers of respondents did not appear to have opportunities to teach literacy with actual P-12 students; 4) Though there are some literacy practices that graduates seemed relatively well-prepared to teach, there are gaps between perception of importance of literacy practices and how well prepared our graduates felt to teach them. In particular, in the areas of writing, classroom discussion, and comprehension, survey respondents felt unprepared during their first year of teaching.

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