EFFECTS OF A 6-WEEK, CO-TAUGHT LITERACY UNIT ON PRESERVICE SPECIALEDUCATORS' LITERACY-EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE

摘要

For special education preservice teachers to be prepared to assist students with disabilities to achievetheir maximum potential in literacy, an innovative, co-taught literacy unit was implemented withinexisting methods courses. The intensive, 6-week unit was created to prepare all candidates in bothmild interventions and severe interventions licensure programs to meet the literacy needs of diverselearners. The curriculum was designed around the National Reading Panel's five critical compo-nents of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) in addition tothe topics of emergent literacy and writing. Pre- and posttests were administered, revealing a signif-icant growth in participant knowledge related to literacy assessment and instruction. Implicationsfor future efforts to improve literacy outcomes for students with disabilities by improving teachers'knowledge and skills related to literacy instruction are discussed.