An Investigation of the Efficacy of One Urban Literacy Academy: Enhancing Teacher Capacity Through Professional Development

AbstractIn order to systemically improve student achievement in elementary literacy, a large urban school district partnered with a local university to develop a model for high-quality professional development that hopefully would result in long-term changes in teachers' literacy instructional/practices. Schools were selected based on their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in reading/language arts' status. The resulting literacy academy provided approximately 150 hours of professional development over time through two semesters of graduate level course work; 60 hours of it job-embedded. The Literacy Academy was based on a capacity-building model to build teacher knowledge and expertise in reading instruction, specifically in the areas of classroom assessment and use of student data to inform instruction; effective teaching methods in such areas as phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, fluency, vocabulary development, and writing; adapting instruction for students having special needs; and family involvement techniques. Weekly literacy coaching supported the translation of the new learning into practice. A mixed method design was used in this study and the results of this work are presented.IntroductionCurrently in America, school reform occupies a significant place on the political and social agenda. Urban literacy education is a significant field of research as is teaching expertise focusing on the diverse needs of urban children. Children's literacy development in inner-city schools is often impacted by high student mobility, poverty levels well in excess of the national average, majority-minority populations, large concentrations of English Language Learners (ELL), socio-political factors, unstable and ineffective school leadership (e.g., principals, superintendents), inadequately trained educators (i.e., teachers, principals, central office supervisors), and/ or excessive teacher turnover. Unfortunately, many children are failing due to these inadequacies in our systems and resources (Neuman & Celano, 2006). As a result, researchers in the field of urban literacy education study literacy factors, characteristics, and solutions that differ significantly from suburban school environments.Several studies have indicated that non-White and children of poverty are more likely to be taught by under-qualified or under-prepared educators (DarlingHammond, Berry, & Theorson, 2001; Dilworth, 1992; & Haycock, 1998). The U. S. Department of Education (2001a) noted that even though there is a heightened awareness of the need for quality teachers, the United States continuously fails to meet the challenge of placing a competent teacher in every classroom though the primary goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001b)was) was for each child in this country to have a highly qualified teacher. It has also been indicated in several studies that the achievement gap between more between more and less advantaged students is the result of the excessive disparate access to high quality teachers (Barr & Dreeben, 1991; Ferguson, 1991). Research clearly indicates that the quality of teaching has great impact on the learning of children (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985). Insuring that there are highly qualified teachers in the classroom "does more to assist students who are academically at-risk than any other policy-controllable issue" (Denson, 2001, p. 34) such as smaller pupil-teacher ratio or adopted materials (Darling-Hammond, 1999; Fuller, 1999). Teacher capacity-building focusing on evidence-based reading instruction has been found to be the most productive investment for schools and far exceeds the results of teacher experience or class size (Duffy-Hester, 1999; & Greenwald, Hedges, & Laine, 1996). There has been an increase in the funding of professional development in high-poverty schools due to an apparent need; this need must be a priority (Williamson, Morrow & Chou, 2008). …