The Relationship Between Teachers’ Theoretical Orientation Toward Reading and Student Outcomes in Kindergarten Children With Different Initial Reading Abilities

We examined the relationships between kindergarten teachers’ theoretical orientations toward reading, classroom process and task assignment, and student outcomes for students who had scored above or below the population median on a standardized test of early reading ability. The reading achievement of lower scoring children improved the most in whole language- oriented classrooms, while higher scoring children in both whole language-and phonics-oriented classrooms and lower scoring children in phonics-oriented classrooms demonstrated lesser reading gains. Whole language-and phonics-oriented teachers emphasized different literacy tasks. Students in whole language-oriented classes spent a greater proportion of class time attending to nonbook print, using invented spelling, and dictating stories. Children in phonics-oriented classes spent a greater proportion of time looking through books on their own; copying letters, words, and sentences; and completing worksheets. Lower scoring students exhibited higher levels of engagement in whole language-oriented classrooms than in phonics-oriented classrooms. Implications for kindergarten instruction with children of differing initial reading abilities are discussed in the context of a stage model of reading development.