An investigation of secondary administrators' beliefs and attitudes toward content area reading instruction

This study explored secondary administrators' beliefs and attitudes toward content area reading instruction in the secondary content area classroom. Participants were randomly selected secondary administrators from Regions X and XI in northeast Texas. Data included questionnaires, interviews, and an audit trail notebook, which contained field notes, memos, journals, audio tapes, completed questionnaires, data reduction files, and interview transcripts. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and volunteer to be interviewed for the study. Questionnaires consisted of a Likert-type attitude scale and demographical questions aimed at gathering information about the participants and their schools. Responses to the Likert-type attitude scale portion of the questionnaire were scored, and interview data were transcribed coded. Findings indicated that administrators participating in the study had favorable attitudes toward content area reading instruction. Interview data revealed that administrators' favorable attitudes did not necessarily influence their decisions to include content area reading instruction in the curricular programs of their schools. Student performance on state-mandated TAAS/TAKS testing seemed to influence curricular decisions more than administrators' favorable attitudes.