Professional Knowledge of Teachers, Instructional Quality and Second Grade Student Progress in Reading and Writing

有关小学阅读和写作教学的研究已多次探讨哪种整体教学方法(例如“以写读”)对学生的学习是有效的。“WibaLes”计划(教师的专业知识、教学质素和二年级学生读写进度)调查特定学科的教学质素和教师特定学科的专业知识是否影响二年级学生的阅读和写作进步，而不是影响具体的整体教学方法。为此，将使用对教学质量的基本维度的研究，并在该项目中以特定学科为重点进行进一步阐述。将开发和应用全面的测量和比例尺清单，包括各种仪器，如观测仪器。专业教师知识将被区分为教学知识、教学内容知识和一般教学知识，并使用一种新的测试工具来获取，评估教师在二年级阅读和写作教学中的知识。学生的阅读和写作技能将在二年级期间的三个时间点使用已建立的测试工具进行评估。智能等控制变量也将被捕获。我们针对科隆地区60所小学的120名教师和他们的学生进行了样本调查，以期对教师知识、教学质量和学生学习之间的相关性做出可靠的解释。此外，我们的数据和发现将使用一年后学生上三年级时定期进行的国家学生评估(VERA-3)的额外数据进行验证。两个总体研究问题指导着该项目：1)教学质量的各个方面(课堂管理、特定学科的认知激活、和建构性支持)比整体教学方法更好地预测二年级学生的阅读和写作成绩？2)教学质量的各个方面能否通过教师的专业知识进行预测，从而为教师知识对学生学习成绩的间接影响提供证据？我们期待对小学早期阅读和写作教学有重要的启示。由于其特定领域和特定目标的重点，这些见解应该特别相关的研究教师专业精神和教学在小学层面上的一般。由于小学生多样性的增加，该项目也将是重要的，并丰富了关于如何处理学生的异质性的讨论。

Research on teaching reading and writing in primary schools has repeatedly dealt with the question which overall teaching approach (e.g. "reading through writing") is effective for student learning.The project "WibaLes" (Professional Knowledge of Teachers, Instructional Quality and Second Grade Student Progress in Reading and Writing) investigates whether subject-specific instructional quality and the subject-specific professional knowledge of teachers effect second grade student progress in reading and writing, rather than the specific overall teaching approach.For this, the research on the basic dimensions of instructional quality will be used and further elaborated in the project with a subject-specific focus. A thorough measurement and scale inventory will be developed and applied, comprising various instruments such as an observational instrument. Professional teacher knowledge will be differentiated into content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and general pedagogical knowledge and captured using a novel test instrument assessing teacher knowledge for teaching second grade reading and writing.Student reading and writing skills will be assessed at three time points during second grade using an established test instrument. Control variables such as intelligence will be captured as well. We aim at a sample of 120 teachers and their students at 60 primary schools in the Cologne region in order to come to solid interpretation of findings on the correlations of teacher knowledge, instructional quality, and student learning. In addition to that, our data and findings will be validated using additional data from national student assessment (VERA-3) regularly taking place one year later when the students attend their third grade.Two overall research questions guide the project:1) Can aspects of instructional quality (classroom management, subject-specific cognitive activation, and constructive support) better predict second grade student gain in reading and writing than the overall teaching approach?2) Can aspects of instructional quality be predicted by the professional knowledge of teachers and can therefore be provided evidence for the indirect effect of teacher knowledge on the students’ learning gain?We expect significant insights into early teaching of reading and writing in primary school. Due to their domain-specific and target-specific focus, these insights should be particularly relevant for the research on teacher professionalism and teaching on the primary school level in general. The project will also be important due to the increase in primary school student diversity and enrich the discussion of how to deal with heterogeneity of students.