Drawing on the spring 2023 American Instructional Resources Survey, the authors examine teachers' use of foundational reading activities in their instruction. These activities correspond to the four foundational reading skill domains for kindergarten-through-grade-5 students that are set forth in the Common Score of State Standards: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.
The authors compare teacher responses by grades taught, characteristics of their schools and classrooms (e.g., students' race or ethnicity, English language proficiency, disability status), and by state policy context.
Key Findings
- Roughly two-thirds of elementary and one-third of middle and high school English language arts teachers frequently engaged their students in foundational reading activities.
- Secondary teachers who served schools with a majority of students of color and who taught classes with more than 10 percent English learners were more likely to engage their students in these activities.
- Elementary teachers with many students with Individualized Education Programs were less likely to frequently engage their students in these activities.
- Secondary teachers in states with reading legislation were significantly more likely to frequently engage their students in these activities than those in other states.
Shapiro, A., Lee, S., Woo, L. (2024). Exploring foundational reading skill instruction in K12 schools. RAND.
