Research Recap: Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives and Beliefs on Classroom Literacy Practices in Title 1 Schools

By Brooke Thomas

From February 19 to February 22, the Busload of Books Research Team (and some additional Washington College friends!) attended the annual Eastern Educational Research Association (EERA) conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina. With the help of our research team, I was lucky enough to give a presentation titled Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives and Beliefs on Classroom Literacy Practices in Title 1 Schools. In other sessions, our team gave two additional presentations, so keep an eye on this blog for more information on those! This presentation aimed to answer three key questions:  

1. What are elementary teachers’ reported classroom literacy practices in the areas of reading, writing and drawing?  

2. What are elementary teachers’ reported beliefs about their students’ interests in the areas of reading, writing, and drawing?   

3. How do elementary teachers’ reported classroom literacy practices and beliefs vary by the prevalence of poverty within their school district? 

To answer that first research question, we took a look at our survey data in which teachers reported their implementation of a variety of classroom literacy practices in the areas of reading, writing, and drawing. The most popular classroom literacy practice among teachers surveyed was, “I read aloud to students more than twice a week” (ranked “very true” by 71% of teacher respondents). The second most popular classroom literacy practice was “I often use guided reading strategies in my classroom” (ranked “very true” by 62% of surveyed teachers).

To answer our second research question, a different section of our teacher survey reported their beliefs about their students’ interest in reading, writing, and drawing. An example response from the reading category is the statement, “My students enjoy reading.” A majority of teachers, 40.01% of respondents, ranked that statement “very true” on their completed survey. From the writing category, 48.08% of teachers responded, “very true” to “I wish students could write more in school.” In the drawing category, an overwhelming 64.58% of teachers responded, “very true” to the statement, “My students are interested in drawing.” To see the rest of the statements and results from these teacher surveys, please see the table below.  

To answer that third research question, we looked at two measures of anticipated student hardship (hunger and poverty) within our sample and compared teacher responses among areas with higher vs. lower rates of hardship. When examining the impacts of childhood hunger prevalence, we found that teachers in schools with greater hunger have more variety in literacy activities and more aspirational beliefs for their students. Similarly, there is a wider variety of classroom literacy practices in addition to more aspirational beliefs among teachers in schools where childhood poverty is more prevalent. While the assumption may be that teachers may struggle to offer a wide variety of classroom literacy practices and may have lesser aspirations for their students, our data suggests that teachers in these environments actually incorporate more diverse literacy practices and hold higher aspirations for their students. See the two tables below for a more in-depth look at teachers’ survey responses in relation to the variables of hunger and poverty. 

Some key takeaways of this research and of our EERA presentation are that it can: provide insights that can inform literacy interventions, improve instructional approaches, and influence policies that support literacy development in Title 1 schools. It can also be used to help us better understand how to foster literacy engagement and proficiency for students in high-needs communities, helping to close the literacy achievement gap. 

Our work may be used for further research in areas for professional development and support, instructional adaptations and support systems, and reversing the deficit narrative for Title 1 teachers, schools, and students.  

We hope our work, Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives and Beliefs on Classroom Literacy Practices in Title 1 Schools, contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how external factors shape classroom literacy practices, helping to guide both policy and resource allocation to support communities where hunger and poverty impact educational outcomes. 

If you are interested in viewing the slides for this presentation, please click here!

For more information on our EERA adventures, stay tuned!