| | | | | instruction to improve content area literacy. |
| Literacy professional development leads to | | | | For years there have been calls for an increased |
| instructional improvement by bringing about a | | | | emphasis on content literacy (Biancarosa & |
| change in the participating teachers. This change | | | | Snow, 2004; Draper, 2008; Kamil, 2003; |
| can be evaluated in a variety of ways, including | | | | Richardson, 2008). This is the result of a |
| but not limited to tests of knowledge, personal | | | | recognition that students would benefit from |
| evaluations, and analyses of the components of | | | | having content area classes that are infused with |
| the professional development. The study | | | | reading instruction (Fisher & Ivey, 2005; |
| described in this article examined teachers' met | | | | Moore, Readence, & Rickelman, 1983; |
| cognitive understandings of the strategy known | | | | O'Brien, Stewart, & Moje, 1995). However, |
| as Question-Answer Relationships or QAR | | | | many secondary school teachers perceive literacy |
| (Raphael, 1986) through the preparation of | | | | to be the responsibility of English teachers (Lester, |
| content area materials and reflective questions. | | | | 2000), or they have difficulty balancing literacy |
| The preparation of classroom materials included | | | | and content instruction. The problem, as identified |
| the development of explicit lesson Omega | | | | by O'Brien et al. (1995), is that teachers often do |
| Seamaster Replica Watches plans incorporating | | | | not see a Omega Replica Watches connection |
| teachers' descriptions of the strategy in | | | | between literacy skills and content information, as |
| open-ended questions and written think-alouds. | | | | these skills appear to be inconsistent with the |
| Lesson plan components were evaluated by the | | | | traditional goals of the secondary curriculum. Thus, |
| principal researcher, Nance Wilson (first author), to | | | | many content area teachers struggle to buy into |
| examine changes in teacher understanding. The | | | | the teaching of reading strategies (Lester, 2000), |
| study was designed around a yearlong | | | | and it has been difficult to incorporate literacy |
| professional development initiative aimed at helping | | | | strategies into the content areas (Fisher & |
| secondary content area teachers incorporate the | | | | Ivey, 2005; Hall, 2005). |
| teaching of a literacy strategy (QAR) and content | | | | |