Impact of an intensive summer institute and follow-up activities on aspects of reading teachers\u27 beliefs and practices

This study examined the impact of an intensive Summer Reading Institute and of a subgroups\u27 participation in follow-up activities. The research focused on teachers\u27 beliefs and practices related to reading instruction. Participants in this study were elementary teachers from a midwestern urban school district. Thirty of the participants were enrolled in the Summer Institute, which was developed and taught by the researcher. The Institute design encouraged the development of a community of learners with provisions for collaborative planning, reflective teaching, and literature integration, with emphasis on enhancing the participants\u27 knowledge base for making instructional decisions about the teaching of reading. A second group of 30 teachers from the same urban district were included as a comparison group; they did not attend the Institute or participate in follow-up activities. Scales to measure (1) teachers\u27 conceptions about reading and reading instruction, (2) teachers\u27 reading self-efficacy, and (3) teachers\u27 reliance on the basal reader manual were administered, using a pre, post, and end-of-year time frame. All participants also responded to an open-ended probe addressing reading instruction. A correlational analysis showed significant relationships among the three measures. Post-Institute measures administered at the completion of the three-week institute showed significantly increased self-efficacy for the participants\u27 reading and increased perceptions of reading as an interactive, constructive process. Although differences were in the predicted directions, cross-group comparisons revealed no significant difference among the three groups at the end of the year. Teacher comments, however, seemed to support a conclusion that permanent changes had occurred in teachers\u27 conceptions of reading and in their approaches to reading instruction. The results support the conclusion that an intensive institute experience can effect significant changes in teachers\u27 beliefs, levels of confidence and degree of reliance on teachers\u27 manuals. Maintaining these changes seems somewhat more problematic, although differences were in predicted directions and teacher comments supported a hypothesis of significant change. In general, the three instruments appear to be appropriate measures to assess changes in teachers\u27 beliefs and practices about reading and reading instruction, and the information can be used for planning and implementing an effective professional development program that addresses the change process and theory to practice issues of the elementary teachers of reading