The Instructional Decisions of Preservice Teachers during a Reading Practicum

Abstract

Shefelbine and Hollingsworth studied the instructional decisions of 14 under graduate elementary education stu dents during a reading practicum. Deci sion making was evaluated across seven areas of reading: diagnosis, planning, lesson balance, text placement, type of reading practice, word recognition in struction, and developing background knowledge. The authors specifically sought (a) to identify what kinds of deci sions are potentially troublesome for be ginning teachers and (b) to explain why these difficulties might occur. The re sults indicated that decisions about diag nosis, planning, lesson balance, and word recognition instruction were dif ficult for the higher performing teachers. Lower performing teachers, on the other hand, were more likely to have trouble across all seven areas. Possible explana tions for these patterns included the con tent and complexity of each decision area, teachers' overall knowledge of reading content, and concerns about management and instructional routines. Implications for teacher education are discussed.