Scaffolded Dialogic Reading Professional Development for Transitional Kindergarten Teachers of Dual Language Learners

Abstract

This article presents the results of a 6-month U.S. Department of Education-funded project that focused on enhancing teacher learning and instructional practices in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) in a large urban California school district. The study integrated the Doing What Works Dialogic Reading practices[1] into ongoing professional development for 28 TK teachers working with large percentages of 4- and 5-year-old Dual Language Learners (DLLs). We employed a quasi-experimental design that used a comparison group to examine changes in teaching practices with and without the project’s coaching support. Data from classroom observations, teacher surveys, and coaching reflections indicate that initial implementation of the Dialogic Reading practices enhanced TK teachers’ development of knowledge and oral language instructional practices with DLLs.

[1] Doing What Works (DWW) was a website established by the What Works Clearinghouse at the U.S. Department of Education. The DWW’s Mission was to support teachers and administrators implement evidence-based practices in daily instruction in P-12 grades. The site was suspended in 2013. Visit http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/