Literacy instruction and reading performance in first grade classrooms

Abstract

The aim of the present dissertation was to examine the associations between observed literacy instruction and students’ reading performance at the classroom level during the first school year. The data focusing on the first grade autumn and spring were drawn from two longitudinal studies conducted in Finland and one conducted in Estonia. The three sub-studies used data from audio or video recorded literacy lessons (sub-study 1: nFIN = 12, nEST = 21; sub-study 2: n = 35; sub-study 3: n = 30), and assessments of reading performance (word reading skills, and reading comprehension; sub-study 1: nFIN = 154, nEST = 415; sub-study 2: n = 616; sub-study 3: n = 537). Literacy instruction activities were coded for instructional attention management (i.e., who is responsible for directing students’ attention to the task: the teacher during whole group work vs. students during independent work) and content of literacy activities utilising an adapted version of the Individualizing Student Instruction (ISI) observation system. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling. The results showed, first, that the emphases in the contents of the activities shifted during the first grade. Second, students’ word reading skills at the classroom level were associated with the allocation of lesson time to different literacy instruction activities in both the autumn and spring terms. Third, different literacy instruction activities were found to be associated with average word reading skills and reading comprehension in classrooms. Overall, the findings contribute to the understanding of classroom-level associations between literacy instruction and literacy learning in first grade. The findings highlight the need to consider the effects of the classroom-level skills of students on teachers’ practices when supporting students’ learning to read. Keywords: literacy instruction, classroom observations, reading performance, reading accuracy, reading fluency, reading comprehension, first grade