Renata Burgess Brigham

Educators in reading are cognizant of the importance of proper assessment practices in order to screen for the risk of reading disabilities, guide proper instruction, and evaluate growth. While teacher preparation programs are striving to equip future teachers with the best reading assessment practices, little is known about the actual knowledge and attitudes that these students have toward assessing English language learners (ELLs). In order to determine the attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of pre-service teachers (PTs), a survey constructed by the researchers was administered to 105 PTs. The PTs were enrolled in an ELLs reading assessment course at a public university in Texas. Based on the descriptive statistical analyses, there was a general lack of confidence in ability and/or preparedness to assess the reading abilities of ELLs. On a more positive note, the majority of respondents indicated a positive attitude towards ELLs overall. In addition, an exploratory factor analysis using cross-tabulations was conducted to determine what factors contributed to PTs feeling prepared to assess ELLs reading. This study has implications for teacher educators to recognize the importance of teachers’ having knowledge of ELLs reading assessment practices as this knowledge could enhance teachers’ self-efficacy and confidence in reading assessment of ELLs. It is suggested that teacher educaton programs include a course dedicated to reading assessment to enhance teachers’ content knowledge of basic language constructs and also their pedagogical knowledge of ELLs literacy acquisition and assessment