Content area teachers' attitudes and knowledge about remedial readers

Abstract

A contributing factor to a remedial reading student's reading achievement might be the content teachers' attitude toward the student. The related literature suggests that teachers' attitudes, beliefs and expectations toward students can affect students' achievement. This study was designed to investigate the attitudes and knowledge of English, science and social studies secondary school teachers regarding the remedial reading students in their classrooms and the attitudes and knowledge about the remedial reading programs at their respective schools. The instrument used was a 17 item survey designed by the researcher to provide the information for the research questions. The sample included 45 English, science and social studies secondary school teachers. There were 15 teachers in each content area. Data were collected in an urban school district in a large metropolitan city. Results indicate that the teachers expressed negative attitudes regarding the remedial readers in their classes. They also expressed frustration which they attribute to several factors. The teachers indicate feeling sorry for the remedial readers because they do not have the time to work with them, and do not feel equipped with the knowledge and/or materials to adequately help the remedial students. The teachers were 45% accurate in their knowledge regarding the remedial readers. They were 31% accurate in their knowledge regarding the remedial reading program at their school. The teachers' attitudes regarding the remedial reading program at their school are uncertainty and ambivalence. The conclusions for this study are: (1) teachers' attitude data revealed a majority of negative responses, (2) a small minority of the teachers generated positive comments, (3) teachers were not all that accurate in their knowledge of remedial readers, (4) teachers felt they were not adequately prepared nor did they have adequate support to meet the academic needs of their remedial reading students, (5) most teachers were unaware of the nature of the reading program at their school, and (6) lack of accurate and consistent communication between the content teachers and the reading specialists.