Teacher, school, and student characteristics, theoretical orientations toward reading, attitudes toward high stakes testing, and reading performance in grades K--6

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among teacher, student, and school characteristics, theoretical orientation toward reading, attitudes toward high stakes testing, and reading performance of K-6 students. The study examines teacher perspectives of theoretical beliefs about reading instruction and teacher beliefs about high stakes testing.;In this study, an exploratory (comparative) and explanatory (correlational) online survey was conducted. A simple random sampling plan of 10,000 K-6 public school teachers was invited to participate in the study. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, independent t tests, Chi Squares tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis.;This study found that Title I school teachers have had the content of their instruction impacted and are feeling more pressure as a result of state mandated testing resulting in a negative impact on school climate, Reading First schools did not score as high as non-Reading First schools on reading performance. Teachers in Reading First schools favored a more phonics approach to reading instruction. Schools with more Black/African American students that were Title I and Reading First had a higher incidence of not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Teachers at schools not making AYP had more negative feelings toward high stakes testing.;There were more ESOL students in schools involved in high stakes testing and fewer teachers in schools involved in high stakes testing with their ESOL certification/endorsement. Teachers with reading certification/endorsement had a whole language orientation toward reading while teachers without had a more phonics orientation toward reading. Teachers without ESOL certification/endorsement favored a whole language orientation toward reading while teachers with ESOL certification/endorsement experienced more pressure associated with state mandated assessments.;Teachers with ESE students had negative attitudes toward state mandated testing and found the state test was of little value. Teachers of ESE students indicated greater pressure for their students to achieve on state mandated assessments. Finally, student race was found to impact pressure on teachers, school climate, impact on content, and impact on mode of instruction. Procedures for ensuring that teachers have the proper qualifications for meeting the diversity needs of their students need to be investigated.