| Abstrakt: |
Despite what we know about the pitfalls of narrow, one-shot inservice activities, we find more and more evidence that much professional development in reading continues to be splintered and, therefore, ineffective. Sustained improvements in instructional practices begin with high quality professional development that helps teachers see the connections between research and practice. This can be accomplished by helping teachers within a school develop shared understandings about reading and a common vocabulary for discussing reading instruction and intervention. This paper presents a conceptual framework for guiding teachers' thinking about how various aspects of reading are connected and how comprehension is dependent on multiple critical influences. Throughout the implementation of the Florida Reading Initiative, a sustained approach to school-wide reading professional development, teachers, reading coaches, and administrators have viewed the conceptual framework as critical to their understanding of the content of the professional development. The framework has since been successfully employed in preservice teacher preparation, as well. The framework can be used to guide teachers' thinking and learning and to provide a shared language for communicating about their practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
