Primary Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching Reading to Students with Dyslexia in the General Education Classroom

Research has shown that a significant number of primary age school children do not have adequate phonemic awareness skills to learn to read fluently and that Orton-Gillingham methods are an effective intervention. Yet, many students with dyslexia continue to perform far below grade level expectations in reading and writing. The understanding of teacher perspective about working with students with dyslexia has been lacking in literature. The phonological deficit theory maintains that children with dyslexia do not develop phonological awareness, defined as the knowledge that words are composed of individual sounds. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to understand primary school teachers' perspectives, practices, and challenges in relation to teaching phonological awareness to students with dyslexia in a small rural district. The participants were 1 first grade teacher, 3 second grade teachers, and 2 third grade teachers. Data analysis from the individual participant interviews included horizontalization and inductive coding used to find themes that culminated in a rich narrative. The results of the in-depth interviews indicated that general education teachers are seeking more professional development opportunities to work with students with reading disabilities. The resulting project was a year-long professional development plan designed to help teachers understand effective instructional practices for students with dyslexia. Implications for positive social change are improvements in professional development practices to help general education teachers understand how to provide effective reading instruction to students with dyslexia that can result in increased educational attainment for those students.