How Elementary Teachers Perceive and Implement Sustained Silent Reading

Abstract

Sustained silent reading is defined as a period of uninterrupted silent reading (Siah & Kowk, 2010). Schools are using this practice in place of other reading programs to promote reading within the student body. Many legislators, administrators, teachers, and parents have emphasized the need for reading programs to improve children’s reading proficiency (Siah & Kwok, 2010). One intervention to this problem is sustained silent reading. As Krashen (1993) points out, sustained silent reading “is the kind of reading highly literate people do obsessively all the time”. I investigated how other elementary teachers in my school perceive and implement sustained silent reading. During each 20 to 30 minutes interview, I asked open-ended questions that will focus on how and why the participants use sustained silent reading. I prepared the interview questions based on what I would like to know about the activity of independent reading. The questions I used for the interviews will help me to better understand how teachers put sustained silent reading into play and to obtain a more defined perspective on the effective strategies. I audio recorded each interview, dependent on individual consent and willingness to be audio recorded. I have also attached the interview protocol. Until I begin the process of transcribing each interview, I kept all audio recordings secured in a locked drawer. I transcribed each interview and delete the audio recording immediately after I completed data analysis. At no point in my study will the identities of my participants be revealed.