Foundational Reading Knowledge of Teachers of Students With IDD: Examining Experience, Degree and Time Use.
Esther R Lindström, Kimberly A McFadden, Qiong Fu and 1 others
PMID 40908397WHAT IT FOUND
Special education teachers for students with intellectual disabilities answered only two-thirds of questions correctly on a test of foundational reading knowledge.
More experience or advanced degrees did not consistently predict higher scores, suggesting current training is not reliably closing these gaps.
Key findings
01Teachers correctly answered an average of 13.2 out of 20 items (66%) on the assessment of foundational reading knowledge.
02There was no consistent pattern where greater teaching experience or higher degrees predicted better performance on specific test items.
03The most difficult item for all teachers was counting phonemes in the word 'box', indicating a specific gap in applying phonological rules.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The 'I don't know' option was added to the test, which may have influenced scores differently for teachers who guess versus those who do not. About one-third of teachers did not correctly report their instructional time use, so the analysis of time spent teaching phonics was based on a smaller, self-selected subset of respondents. The study measured knowledge on a test, not actual classroom teaching practice, so it is unclear if teachers apply what they know or avoid difficult areas. Experience and degree levels were grouped into broad categories (e.g., >5 years vs <=5 years), which may miss nuanced differences in training quality.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, and Lehigh University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that experienced teachers or those with master's degrees have superior foundational reading knowledge. The study found inconsistent performance across these groups, meaning seniority does not guarantee competence in the specific skills needed to teach students with IDD to read.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →