Building a solid foundation for reading: an analysis of curriculum, policy, and instructional material documents

Abstract

Scientific reading research (SSR) has demonstrated that all students should be taught foundational reading skills (phonological awareness and orthography) to become fluent word readers. Curriculum/policy documents and instructional materials should reflect scientific reading research. In this study, the following research question was examined: Are there differences in the extent to which the reading-related resources (curriculum/policy documents and instructional materials), provided to two different groups of teachers—classroom teachers and resource teachers in one Nova Scotia jurisdiction—reflect evidence from the scientific studies of reading? Content analysis was used to examine the extent to which the reading-related resources (curriculum/policy documents and instructional materials), provided to two different groups of teachers—classroom teachers and resource teachers in one Nova Scotia jurisdiction—reflect evidence from the scientific studies of reading. The content analysis used two approaches to investigate evidence of SSR in the curriculum/policy documents and instructional materials—analysis using an established SSR analytical framework, and keyword analysis of the content of the materials. This study found evidence of different messaging in the curriculum/policy documents and instructional materials for classroom teachers and resource teachers. The implications of the findings for collaborative practice are discussed.