Reading Horizons Vol. 22, No. 2
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Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts Volume 22 Issue 2 December 1981 Article 12 12-1981 Reading Horizons vol. 22, no. 2 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation (1981). Reading Horizons vol. 22, no. 2. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 22 (2). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol22/iss2/12 This Complete Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Education and Literacy Studies at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact wmu- [email protected]. :?lleodittg ____ HORIZONS VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 Editor - Ken VanderMeulen College of Education Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008 READING HORIZONS has EDITORIAL BOARD been published quarterly since 1960 by the College Jerry L. Johns of Education, Western Northern Illinois University Michigan University, in DeKalb, Illinois Kalamazoo, Michigan. As a journal devoted to the Richard D. Robinson teaching of reading at University of Missouri all educational levels, Columbia HORIZONS provides all interested professionals Jean R. Harber with the ideas, reports, California State University and important develop Northridge, California ments that constitute the ever widening horizons Michael McKenna of reading. Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas Mark E. Thompson Washington, D. C. Carl Braun University of Calgary Alberta, Canada William H. Rupley Texas A & M University College Station, Texas READING HORIZONS Designed to be used by teachers, researchers, specials, and students devoted to the teaching of reading, READING HORIZONS io fJuLlishe:d fow~ Lirflf':-; :1 yf~,'-H' ()I! Ulf! C8JT1PU5 at Western MichiCdIl University. Copyright 1982, second class postage rate paid, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available at $10.00 per year, $12.00 in Canada, and $14.00 overseas. Checks should be made payable to READING HORIZONS. Number 1 issue of each volume is published in October. Rates are determined according to costs and may be changed. MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts submitted for publication should include original and two copies, and must be accompanied by postage for return of original if not accepted. HORIZONS is a refereed journal, and all manuscripts are evaluated without author identity, by members of the Editorial Board. Please address all correspondence to Ken Vander Meulen, Editor, READING HORIZONS, Western Michi gan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. MICROFILM Microfilm copies are available at University Microfilms, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. Back issues, while they are available, can also be purchased from READING HORIZONS, at $2.50 (with 50~ postage), payable in advance. EDI1DRIAL POLICY The contents and points of view expressed in this journal are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editorial Board of READING HORIZONS. Copyright 1982 Western Michigan University Reading Horizons (ISSN 0034-0502) is indexed or abstracted by Current Index to Journals in Education, Chicorel Ab stracts to Reading and Learning Disabilities, Council of Abstracting Services, andReading Disability Digest. TABLE OF CONTENTS Thomas Bean, Ashley Bishop, 85 The Effect of a Mini-Confer and Marilyn Leuer ence on Teacher Beliefs California State University About the Reading Process Fullerton Don Deresz, Miami Springs 91 Reading S. Junior High School A a -k. Grover C. Matthewson, Graphing s II Florida Internat. University 1 Charles L. Smith 98 Developing Story-Telling Oklahoma State University Skills with Language Stillwater Experience Stories Anne M. Ferguson 102 Independent Cloze Southeastern Louisiana Activities for Increasing University, Hammond Sight Vocabulary Lawrence G. Erickson 105 An Ounce of Prevention-- West Virginia University Morgantown Robert E. Leibert 110 The IRI: Relating Test University of Missouri Performance to Instruction: Kansas City A Concept John Micklos, Jr. 116 Reading and Literacy- Staff Writer, IRA, Newark Alive and Well Nicholas P. Criscuolo 120 Parents as Partners In Supervisor of Reading Reading New Haven, Connecticut Through the Newspapers Donna Keenan 123 An Evaluation of the Elem. and Secondary Educ. Effectiveness of Selected University of North Florida Readability Formulas Elton G. Stetson 129 Improving Textbook Learning College of Fnucation With S4R: A Strategy for University of Houston Teachers, Not Students Fredrick Burton 136 Book Reviews: Picture Ohio State University Books for Older Columbus Children Cathy Collins 138 Tables Which Should Accompany Texas Christian University the Information in Fall Issue Fort Worth, Texas "When Reading Instruction Begins ... " page 7 EDITORS AT LARGE A. Sterl Artley Professor of Education University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri Peg;gy Carpenter Victor Valley Joint U.S.D. Victorville, California Roach Van Allen Elementary Education University of Arizor,a Tucson, Arizona Jeanne Chall Professor of Education Reading Laboratory Director Harvard University Robert Karlin Professor of Education Graduate Reading Programs Queens College, New York Eric Thurston Professor of Education Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana Leonard S. Braarn Department of Education Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New York THE EFFECT OF A MINI-CONFERENCE ON TEACHER BELIEFS ABOUT THE READING PROCESS Thomas W. Bean Ashley Bishop Mari Iyn Leuer READING DEPARTMENT, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA Five decades ago, William S. Gray asserted that "Sollild reading instruction and the development of reading programs presuppose a clear understanding of the nature of reading and the fundamental processes involved II ( Gray, 1937, p. 25 ). More recently, Harste and Burke (1977) demonstrated that teachers I philosophy of reading manifested itself in their instructional procedures and the quality of students I oral reading miscues. For example, teachers professing a psycholinguistic, language based orientation to reading instruction tended to engage their students in holistic language activities such as the language experience approach. Conversely, teachers subscribing to a skills mastery approach relied more heavily on pre-packaged diagnostic and prescriptive materials. If teachers I understanding of the reading process is crucial to their ability to make informed decisions, what means exist to advance their knowledge of the reading process? There is evidence to suggest that teachers are reluctant to read professional journals (Cogan and Anderson, 1977; and Mour, 1977) perhaps because of time constraints, and even more hesitant to embrace classroom implications from research (Clif ford, 1973; Pearson, 1978). Since the very people who are in the best position to field-test new theories and related strategies are not eager to read about them, alternate means should be made available to keep teachers abreast of their chosen field. The present study was undertaken to appraise the degree to which teacher beliefs about the reading process might be urxiated through attendance at a weekend mini-conference. The mini-conference focused on classroom application of findings from contemporary psycholinguistic research. Methods Subjects The subjects were 88 male and female teachers who voluntar ily spent a weekend attending a mini-conference entitled "Reading and the Linguistically Different Learner." sponsored by the Reading Department, California State University at Fullerton. Their years of experience as teachers ranged from one to 29 years with an average of 9.2 years for the total population. The number of graduate semester units in reading among them varied from none (15 subject<J) to 39 (one subject), averaging 86-rh 13.5 semester units. 'T'p;:lc.hprs wprp recnrited for the conference by means of newspaper articles, posters on college bulletin boards, brochures and word of mouth. The fact that the major speaker was lJr. '{etta Goodman, a widely known proponent of language based instruction, was well publicized. The conference was held on a Friday evening from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Instrument In order to evaluate any changes in teacher beliefs over the duration of the conference, the Bishop adaptation of DeFord's (1978) Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile ('IDRP) was administered in a pretest/posttest forrmt. The original 'roRP is a 28 item survey that was constructed to reflect beliefs and practices outlined in a variety of beginning reading programs representing three theoretical orientations to reading. The 'IDRP includes 10 statements representing a phonics orientation, eight representing a linguistic or whole language orientation, and 10 that reflect a skills hierarchy perspective. The 'IDRP has been shown to consistently differentiate teach ers according to their individual theoretical orientation to the reading process ( DeFord, 1978). The 'IDRP has demonstrated good validity and high reliability (Cronbach Alpha = .98) and the Bishop adaptation preserves these features. The Bishop adaptation of the 'IDRP was used in this study for two reasons. First, it contains 23 items that" maintain the characteristics of the original 'IDRP but make it less time con suming for administration to conference participants. Second, it supplied detailed inforrmtion about