Assignment 5

The survey Teacher reading strategy survey 1 was designed to gage teachers’ attitudes regarding what they feel is important to teach students in order to allow them to comprehend what they read. It also assists in determining levels of teacher knowledge regarding the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies. The purpose of this survey is to measure changes in teacher attitudes and knowledge of the importance of explicitly teaching of reading comprehension strategies. Teachers would be required to complete the survey prior to the implementation of the Literacy in Action program and then again once implementation comes to a close. The survey questions were designed to assist in measuring outputs from the evaluation’s logic model which included: increased student and teacher knowledge and utilization of reading strategies, increased numbers of students able to comprehend grade-level material, increased comprehension scores as measured on a common assessment tool, and proposals for how to provide support to teachers during implementation.

The initial survey was piloted with 5 teachers who have used the Literacy in Action resource previously or who have attended various workshops on the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies. The piloting process illuminated a few areas of the survey that could be clarified for ease of completion and to increase the precision of the measurement instrument.

Some confusion arose in survey participants as they attempted to answer questions 13-15. These three questions were all worded the same except for the words “before”, “during”, and “after” which were typed in capital letters to draw attention to the word change. Despite this textual emphasis teachers did not immediately notice and answered the “before” question with answers regarding general reading strategies. Only upon attempting to answer the next question did they realize their mistake therefore the survey was revised to warn teachers of the requirements for these three questions prior to their beginning to answer them with a statement of explanation.

Another area that posed confusion for some participants was question 21 where teachers were asked to describe the amount of time they spend teaching English Language Arts. The multiple choice options were clarified by adding descriptions of possible teaching loads alongside the answers.

When answering question 6 all of the participants agreed that low comprehension was a concern for their students yet 4 out of 5 participants stated that their students were reading at or above grade level. This discrepancy makes one wonder how teachers define success in reading. Another open-ended question “What is the ultimate goal of effective reading instruction?” was added to the survey to determine the extent to which teachers view comprehension as the crucial outcome of reading instruction or if it is another aspect of reading such as level of accuracy or fluency that they are judging their students’ reading proficiency on.

Further revision was required for question 18 regarding supports that would assist teachers in increasing their students’ level of reading comprehension. Initially, the question was an open-ended question but it may be better to offer participants various options so they do not inadvertently omit a support they may find beneficial by providing teachers with a list of possible answers to choose from. Participants would still have the opportunity to answer with their own ideas for supports through the provision of an “other” option. The University of Saskatchewan survey tool does not allow for multiple answers or an “other” option so these revisions will be made superficially on the revised tool. In order for this question to become functional in the future another survey tool would have to be used.

Question 22 was also affected by the limitations of the survey tool because the survey tool did not allow for multiple answers to be selected. Multiple answers were encouraged in the revised version however. The initial survey question forced participants to choose the highest numeral applicable, therefore imposing a hierarchy on their answers. It is preferred to gain knowledge of the participants’ academic backgrounds without valuing some experiences over others.

Unfortunately one teacher had some kind of technical difficulty while answering the survey and submitted her completed survey twice which skewed the percentages for the Likert scale items. Instructions included in the introductory letter need to urge participants to contact the program evaluator in case of difficulty submitting the survey.

Overall the survey was completed with ease. The average participant took approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey which was considered an appropriate amount of time by all. The ease of completion may be partly due to the fact that the pilot participants were familiar with various reading strategies and the importance of explicitly teaching these strategies. If a less knowledgeable group had been chosen as the pilot group they may have had more difficulty answering the open-ended questions and may have needed more multiple choice questions to support them in formulating their answers.

Although the University of Saskatchewan survey tool has an option to send a thank-you email, as a final touch the participants should be sent a thank-you letter expressing appreciation for their time. This letter could include a link to the survey results (with the clients’ permission). It is important to let the participants know that their input is valuable and necessary to the success of the evaluation.

Teacher reading strategy survey 1 https://survey.usask.ca/survey.php?sid=17823

Teacher reading strategy survey 2 https://survey.usask.ca/survey.php?sid=17945


References

Hollingsworth, A., Sherman, J., & Zaugra, C. (2007). Increasing reading comprehension

in first and second graders through cooperative learning. Retrieved November

12, 2009, from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/36/2d/80.pdf

Saskatchewan Ministry of Education (2009). Assessment for learning program: Reading

Assessment 2009. Regina, SK: Author.

Hello,

Thank-you for agreeing to participate in this survey regarding reading comprehension strategies. There are many strategies referred to as reading strategies. This survey is designed to measure teacher knowledge and utilization of reading comprehension strategies. Reading comprehension strategies include strategies employed to help students understand what they read. Explicitly teaching reading strategies involves the teacher modeling and describing the thinking that occurs as a reader engages in the strategy.

Please click on the link below to begin the survey. I would appreciate it is you could complete it by Friday, November 6, 2009. If you have experience any difficulty opening accessing the survey or submitting your survey, please do not hesitate to contact me for assistance at (my email address). I appreciate your assistance in this matter as I know how busy you are. Thank-you for your time and insight.

Survey link https://survey.usask.ca/survey.php?sid=17823

Sincerely,

Carrie S.