The primary purpose of this study was to examine middle and high school students' views of instructional practices teachers may use to facilitate reading of difficult textbooks. One thousand eight hundred nineteen students (776 middle school and 1,043 high school) completed the Student Textbook Adaptation Evaluation Instrument (STAEI). The STAEI consists of a list of 33 textbook adaptations for students to rate in terms of their preference and perceptions of teacher use of the adaptations. A secondary purpose of the study was to compare lower and higher achieving students' responses on the STAEI. To address this purpose, a subset of the initial cohort of students (120 lower achieving and 120 higher achieving) was selected. Results indicate a difference between students' perceptions of the desirability of textbook adaptations (high) and their perceptions of the frequency of use of these adaptations in the classroom (low). Students do not feel they are being exposed to the types of instructional adaptations they need. This is particularly true among high school students and higher achieving students. Discussion focuses on the disparity between student preferences and prevailing practices in secondary school classrooms, as well as the role of students' perceptions in teacher decision making.
References
1.
AlvermannD. E.MooreD. W. (1991). Secondary school reading. In BarrR.KamilM. L.MosenthalP.PearsonP. D. (Eds.). Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 951–983). New York: Longman.
2.
AlvermannD. E.SwaffordJ. (1989). Do content area strategies have a research base. Journal of Reading, 32, 388–394.
3.
BabadE. (1990). Measuring and changing teachers' differential behavior as perceived by students and teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 683–690.
4.
BabadE.BernieriF.RosenthalR. (1991). Students as judges of teachers' verbal and nonverbal behavior. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 211–234.
5.
BaldwinR. S. (1985). Children's literature and the reading program. In SearfossL. W.ReadenceJ. E. (Eds.), Helping children learn to read (pp. 393–408). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
6.
BarrR.DreebanR. (1991). Grouping students for reading instruction. In BarrR.KamilM. L.MosenthalP.PearsonP. D. (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 885–910). New York: Longman.
7.
BellengerD. N.BernhardtK. L.GoldstuckerJ. L. (1976). Qualitative research in marketing. Chicago: American Marketing Association.
8.
BlaseJ. J. (1985). The socialization of teachers: An ethnographic study of factors contributing to the rationalization of the teacher's instructional perspective. Urban Education, 20, 235–256.
9.
ConleyM. W. (1986). The influence of training on three teachers' comprehension questions during content area lessons. The Elementary School Journal, 87, 17–27.
10.
DaveyB. (1988). How do classroom teachers use their textbooks. Journal of Reading, 31, 340–345.
11.
DarchC. B.CarnineD. W.KameenuiE. J. (1986). The role of graphic organizers and social structure in content area instruction. Journal of Reading Behavior, 18, 275–295.
12.
DurkinD. (1978–1979). What classroom observations reveal about reading comprehension instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 14, 481–538.
FarrellE.PegueroG.LindseyR.WhiteR. (1988). Giving voice to high school students: Pressure and boredom, ya know what I'm sayin'. American Educational Research Journal, 25, 489–502.
15.
FrymierJ. (1991). Students' preferences for curriculum materials. The High School Journal, 74, 123–129.
16.
GamoranA.BerendsM. (1987). The effects of stratification in secondary schools: Synthesis of survey and ethnographic research. Review of Educational Research, 57, 415–436.
17.
GarnerE. F.RudmanH. C.KarlsenB.MerwinJ. C. (1982). Stanford achievement test (7th ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
18.
GoodladJ. (1984). A place called school. New York: McGraw-Hill.
19.
GrahamS.HarrisK. R. (in press). Cognitive strategy instruction: Methodological issues and guidelines in conducting research. In VaughnS.BosC. (Eds.), Learning disabilities research: Theory, methodology, assessment and ethics. New York: Springer-Verlag.
20.
GutmanA. (1987). Democratic education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
21.
HargreavesD. H. (1967). Social relations in secondary school. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
22.
HinchmanK. (1987). The textbook and three content-area teachers. Reading Research and Instruction, 26, 247–263.
23.
JohnsonR. E.VardainE. B. (1975). Reading, readability, and social studies. The Reading Teacher, 26, 483–488.
24.
KonopakB.CothernN.JampoleE.MitchellM.DeanR.HolomonL.EverettM.WeemsN.ArceneauxL. (1990). Reading instruction in science at the transitional grades: Beliefs versus practice. In ZutellJ.McCormickS. (Eds.), Literacy theory and research: Analysis from multiple paradigms. Thirty-ninth Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 129–136). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
25.
MarshallH. H.WeinsteinR. S. (1986). Classroom context of student-perceived differential teacher treatment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 441–453.
26.
O'BrienD. G. (1988). Secondary preservice teachers' resistance to content reading instruction: A proposal for a broader rationale. In ReadenceJ. E.BaldwinR. S. (Eds.), Dialogues in literacy research. Thirty-seventh Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 237–244). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
27.
ParisS. G.WasikB. A.TurnerJ. C. (1991). The development of strategic readers. In BarrR.KamilM. L.MosenthalP.PearsonP. D. (Eds.). Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 490–511). New York: Longman.
28.
RatekinN.SimpsonM. L.AlvermannD. E.DishnerE. K. (1985). Why teachers resist content reading instruction. Journal of Reading, 28, 432–437.
29.
ReimersT. W.WacherD. P.KoepplG. (1987). Acceptability of behavioral interventions: A review of the literature. School Psychology Review, 16, 212–227.
30.
RichS.PressleyM. (1990). Teacher acceptance of reading comprehension strategy instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 91, 43–64.
31.
SchummJ. S.StricklerK. (1991). Guidelines for adapting content area textbooks: Keeping teachers and students content. Intervention in School and Clinic, 27, 79–84.
32.
SchummJ. S.VaughnS. (1992). Planning for mainstreamed special education students: Perceptions of general classroom teachers. Exceptionality, 3, 81–98.
33.
SchummJ. S.VaughnS.SaumellL. (1992). Assisting students with difficult textbooks: Teachers' perceptions, planning, & practices. Manuscript submitted for publication.
34.
SchummJ. S.VaughnS.HaagerD.McDowellJ.RothleinL.SaumellL. (1992). Teacher planning for individual student needs: What can mainstreamed special education students expect? Manuscript submitted for publication.
35.
SinghN. N.KatzR. C. (1985). On the modification of acceptability ratings for alternative child treatments. Behavior Modification, 9, 375–386.
36.
SlavinR. E. (1984). Research methods in education: A practical guide. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
37.
SmithF. R.FeathersK. M. (1983). Teacher and student perceptions of content area reading. Journal of Reading, 26, 348–354.
38.
StewartR. A.O'BrienD. G. (1989). Resistance to content area reading: A focus on preservice teachers. Journal of Reading, 31, 396–400.
39.
StewartD. W.ShamdasaniP. N. (1990). Focus groups: Theory and practice. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
40.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
SudmanS.BradburnN. M. (1982). Asking questions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
42.
SwaffordJ. (1991). A comparison of the effectiveness of content area reading strategies at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. In PadakN. D.RasinskiT. V.LoganJ. (Eds.), Challenges in reading. Twelfth Yearbook of the College Reading Association (pp. 111–126). Provo, UT: College Reading Association.
43.
SwaffordJ.AlvermannD. E. (1989). Postsecondary research base for content reading strategies. Journal of Reading, 33, 164–169.
44.
TalZ.BabadE. (1989). The “teacher's pet” phenomenon as viewed by Israeli teachers and students. Elementary School Journal, 90, 99–110.
45.
TalZ.BabadE. (1990). The teachers' pet phenomenon: Rate of occurrence, correlates, and psychological costs. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 637–645.
46.
VaughnS.SchummJ. S.JohnsonF.DaughertyT. (1991, October). What do students think when teachers make adaptations? Paper presented at the meeting of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, Cincinnati, OH.
47.
VaughnS.SchummJ. S.NiarhosF.GordonJ. (in press). Students' perceptions of two hypothetical teachers' instructional adaptations for low achievers. Elementary School Journal.
48.
VaughnS.SchummJ. S.KouzekananiK. (in press). What do students with learning disabilities think when their general education teachers make adaptations?Journal of Learning Disabilities.
49.
Von BrockJ. B.ElliotS. N. (1987). Influence of treatment effectiveness information on the acceptability of classroom interventions. Journal of School Psychology, 25, 131–144.
50.
WeinsteinR. S. (1983). Student perceptions of schooling. Elementary School Journal, 83, 287–312.
51.
WeinsteinR. S. (1985). Student mediation of classroom expectancy effects. In DusekJ. B. (Ed.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 329–350). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
52.
WeinsteinR. S.MarshallH. H.SharpL.BotkinM. (1987). Pygmalion and the student: Age and classroom differences in children's awareness of teacher expectations. Child Development, 58, 1079–1093.
53.
WoodK. D.MuthK. D. (1991). The case for improved instruction in the middle grades. Journal of Reading, 35, 84–91.
