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Curriculum Materials For Elementary Reading: Shackles And Scaffolds For Four Beginning Teachers, Sheila W. Valencia, Nancy A. Place, Susan D. Martin, Pamela L. Grossman

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to learn how beginning elementary teachers understood and used curriculum materials for teaching reading, and how, in turn, these materials shaped teachers' instruction. We followed 4 teachers who worked in markedly different school situations and were provided a variety of curriculum materials, ranging from scripted reading programs to supplemental materials without teaching guides. Data were gathered through classroom observations, interviews, and curriculum artifacts over the teachers' first 3 years on the job. Our analysis suggested that curriculum materials interacted with teachers' knowledge of reading and reading instruction, and with the contexts in which …