WVU Parkersburg reading faculty member publishes research article.

CONTACT:  Martha McGovern, assistant professor of reading, 304-424-8301.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A research article by a West Virginia University at Parkersburg faculty member is included in the fall edition of a national reading journal.

Martha Webb McGovern's "Balanced Literacy Instruction as Conceptualized by Preservice Teachers," is published in the latest edition of Journal of Reading Education.  She is an assistant professor of reading at WVU Parkersburg.

"Because literacy is central to school success, it is essential that new teachers are well prepared to teach literacy," she explained about her research which is the basis of the article.  

"Balanced literacy instruction is not a simple, one-size-fits-all procedure," she continued.  "Instead, teachers provide balanced literacy instruction on the basis of their principled conceptualizations. Therefore, it is important that teacher educators are aware of the understandings that preservice teachers are forming as they progress through particular programs."

The article chronicles her research study of 19 preservice teachers who taught literacy lessons in elementary classrooms and then depicted and explained their concepts of balanced literacy instruction. Their depictions and statements were analyzed in terms of qualities of professional reflection and knowledge. These expressed ideas were then correlated with the preservice teachers’ actual teaching performance. Profiles resulting from the analysis were useful for assessing individuals’ professional development and for evaluating the teacher education program.

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