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We describe a model of inservice training for regular and special education teachers at the kindergarten through fourth-grade level, with a focus on updating teachers on recent research developments in preventing and treating reading and writing disabilities and on translating this knowledge into classroom practice. The model includes a summer teacher training institute, three follow-up sessions during the school year, and ongoing observation and consultation in teachers' classrooms. The effectiveness of the model has been demonstrated in measures of teacher knowledge, classroom practice, and student learning outcome in comparisons with control teachers who have not received training. This article focuses on (a) the domain knowledge teachers are taught that relates to understanding the processes of reading and writing acquisition and instructional approaches for reading and writing, (b) the importance of forming researcher-teacher partnerships in which teachers become the experts in translating research knowledge into classroom practice, and (c) the transformations we observed in teachers as they evolved in their level of knowledge and then in their teaching practices.
McCutchen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.