Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1992 A Descriptive Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Head Start Teachers Regarding Early Literacy Development Nancy Lessel Lind Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Lind, Nancy Lessel, "A Descriptive Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Head Start Teachers Regarding Early Literacy Development" (1992). Dissertations. 3236. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3236 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1992 Nancy Lessel Lind LOYOIA UNNERSITY CHICAGO A DESCRIPTNE STUDY OF THE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF HEAD SfART TEACHERS REGARDING EARLY LITERACY DEVELOPMENT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ERIKSON INSTITUTE BY NANCY LESSEL LIND CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 1992 Copyright by Nancy Lind, 1992 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all the members of my committee for their generous contributions of time helping me develop and write this study. Special thanks are due to my chairman, Joan Mclane, for her steady support and gentle encouragement. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Department of Human Services of the city of Chicago and all the Head Start delegate agencies that authorized the research. I am deeply grateful to the wonderful Head Start teachers who permitted me to observe their classrooms and made time in their busy schedules to participate in my interviews. Without the patience and support of my family this project could never have been undertaken. My husband never let me consider giving up; my daughter shared my enthusiasm for the subject; my son was sympathetic at the right moments and was, in the final stages, a particularly helpful editor. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. iv UST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................ vi CHAPTER I-INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ......................................................... 1 Purposes Of The Study ................................................................................ 2 Research Questions ..................................................................................... .. 3 The Significance of the Study .................................................................... .. 4 Significance For Head Start ............................................................. 4 Significance For Teacher Development ........................................ .. 6 General Significance ....................................................................... .. 7 Overview of Methodology ........................................................................... 7 Organization Of The Dissertation .............................................................. 8 CHAPTER II-REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE ............................................ 9 Early Literacy Leaming and Development ............................................... .. 10 Background ....................................................................................... 12 Social Context ................................................................................... 14 Two Contrasting Approaches to Literacy Leaming and Development .. 21 Traditional/Basic Skills ................................................................... 21 Emergent Literacy /Whole Language .............................................. 23 Teachers' Beliefs and Their Classroom Behaviors .................................... 28 Preschool Teacher Training ........................................................................ 31 Literacy Development And Head Start Classrooms .................................. 32 Summary ....................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER III-METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 34 Subjects ......................................................................................................... 34 Instruments ................................................................................................. .. 36 Structured Interview ........................................................................ 37 "'~uest1onnaire . ................................................................................... 39 Observation Form ............................................................................ 39 Data Gathering ............................................................................................ .. 39 The Interview ................................................................................... 40 The Observation ............................................................................... 41 Data Reduction ............................................................................................. 41 Group Placements ............................................................................ 42 CHAPTER IV-RESULTS OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 47 Descriptive Data ........................................................................................... 48 Demographics Of The Sample ........................................................ 48 The Physical Literacy Environment in the Head Start Classrooms ........ .. 51 Books in the Classroom .................................................................. .. 51 Drawing/Writing Equipment ......................................................... .. 52 Computers ........................................................................................ 52 Classroom Print/Displayed Literacy ............................................. .. 53 Activities Offered for literacy Development in the Sample Classrooms . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 5 Sample Head Start Teachers' Expressed Attitudes and Beliefs About Early literacy Development...................................................................... 56 Teachers' Group Placement......................................................................... 60 Statistical Confirmation of Group Membership .................................... :.... 66 Case Studies and Group Descriptions......................................................... 68 The Basic Skills Group ...................................................................... 69 The Whole Language Group ............................................................ 82 The Eclectic Group............................................................................ 94 Case Study Summary........................................................................ 1 OS Differences Between Teachers Trained By The Erikson Institute Early literacy Project And Those Who Have Not Undergone The Training ...................................................................................................... 107 Discriminant Analysis Of The Teacher Attitude Variables ........... 108 Discriminant Analysis Of Teacher Report Of The Frequency Of literacy Activities Variables ......................................................... 110 Discriminant Analysis Of Classroom literacy Environment Variables........................................................................................ 112 CHAPTER V-DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................................... 115 Methodology.................................................................................................. 115 The Physical literacy Environment And Its Effects .................................. 116 Books .................................................................................................. 117 Drawing/Writing Equipment........................................................... 118 Classroom Print and Displayed literacy ........................................ 120 Activities Offered For literacy Development In The Sample Classrooms .................. .. .............. .. ... .......................... .. ...... ...... ..... ..... ... ...... 122 Activities Observed........................................................................... 123 Observer Impressions ....................................................................... 124 Activities Reported............................................................................ 125 Relationship Between The Classroom Observation And The Teacher Report Data........................................................................ 126 The Sample Head Start Teachers' Expressed Attitudes And Beliefs About Early literacy Development.......................................................... 128 Relative Value Of Various literacy Activities................................. 129 Responses To Statements About literacy Development............... 131 Relationship Between Beliefs And Practice..................................... 132 Teachers' Personal Experiences With literacy..........................................