Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relationships between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge and students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading achievement

  • Published:
European Journal of Psychology of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study examined the relationships between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and their students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension. The study was carried out among language art teachers (N = 34) and their students (N = 534) in the last year of primary school (ninth grade) in Estonia. Multilevel modeling was used to test the hypotheses of relationships between students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension, while controlling for students’ previous reading comprehension (in eighth grade) as well as the relations between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and students’ metacognitive knowledge and comprehension. The results showed that students’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies related to their reading comprehension, concurring with previous findings. The main finding was that teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies significantly related to their students’ metacognitive knowledge, but not to reading comprehension. These results indicate that students’ reading comprehension may be supported by improving their metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies. In addition, the findings highlight the importance of teachers’ metacognitive knowledge in students’ metacognitive knowledge.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Primary school in Estonia covers grades 1–9 (7 to 16 years old) and the gymnasium/vocational school covers secondary education (16 to 19 years old).

  2. Scoring was based only on those pairwise comparisons for which at least 10 of 11 reading experts (from five different countries) agreed that one particular strategy is superior to the other (Schlagmüller and Schneider 2007).

References

  • Alger, C. (2009). Content area reading strategy knowledge transfer from preservice to first-year teaching. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(1), 60–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreassen, R., & Bråten, I. (2011). Implementation and effects of explicit reading comprehension instruction in fifth-grade classrooms. Learning and Instruction, 21(4), 520–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anmarkrud, Ø., & Bråten, I. (2012). Naturally-occurring comprehension strategies instruction in 9th-grade language arts classrooms. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 56(6), 591–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Annevirta, T., & Vauras, M. (2006). Developmental changes of metacognitive skill in elementary school children. The Journal of Experimental Education, 74(3), 197–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artelt, C., & Schneider, W. (2015). Cross-country generalizability of the role of metacognitive knowledge in students’ strategy use and reading competence. Teachers College Record, 117(January 2015), 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artelt, C., Schiefele, U., & Schneider, W. (2001). Predictors of reading literacy. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 16(3), 363–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artelt, C., Neuenhaus, N., Lingel, K., & Schneider, W. (2012). Entwicklung und wechselseitige Effekte von metakognitiven und bereichsspezifischen Wissenskomponenten in der Sekundarstufe [Development and reciprocal effects of metacognitive and domain-specific knowledge components in secondary school]. Psychologische Rundschau, 63(1), 18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bråten, I., & Anmarkrud, Ø. (2013). Does naturally occurring comprehension strategies instruction make a difference when students read expository text? Journal of Research in Reading, 36(1), 42–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cano, F., García, Á., & Justicia, F. (2014). Science learning: a path analysis of its links with reading comprehension, question-asking in class and science achievement. International Journal of Science Education, 36(10), 1710–1732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantrell, S. C., Almasi, J. F., Carter, J. C., Rintamaa, M., & Madden, A. (2010). The impact of a strategy-based intervention on the comprehension and strategy use of struggling adolescent readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 257–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carney, M., & Indrisano, R. (2013). Disciplinary literacy and pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Education, 193(3), 39–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chauvot, J. B. (2008). Curricular knowledge and the work of mathematics teacher educators. Issues in Teacher Education, 17(2), 83–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Corte, E., Verschaffel, L., & Van De Ven, A. (2001). Improving text comprehension strategies in upper primary school children: a design experiment. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(4), 531–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, G. G., Miller, S., Parsons, S., & Meloth, M. (2009). Teachers as metacognitive professionals. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Handbook of metacognition in education (pp. 240–256). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischbein, S., & Folkander, M. E. (2000). Reading and writing ability and drop out in the Swedish upper secondary school. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 15(3), 264–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flavell, J. E. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: a new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakkarainen, A., Holopainen, L., & Savolainen, H. (2013). Mathematical and reading difficulties as predictors of school achievement and transition to secondary education. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 57(5), 488–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houtveen, A. A. M., & van de Grift, W. J. C. M. (2007). Effects of metacognitive strategy instruction and instruction time on reading comprehension. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 18(2), 173–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hox, J. J. (2010). Multilevel analysis: techniques and applications. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hox, J. J., Maas, C. J. M., & Brinkhuis, M. J. S. (2010). The effect of estimation method and sample size in multilevel structural equation modeling. Statistica Neerlandica, 64, 157–170. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9574.2009.00445.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W. (1998). Comprehension: a paradigm for cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W. (2013). Revisiting the construction-integration model of text comprehension and its implications for instruction. In D. Alvermann, N. J. Unrau, & R. B. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (6th ed., pp. 807–839). Newark: International Reading Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kolić-Vehovec, S., Rončević Zubković, B., & Pahljina-Reinić, R. (2014). Development of metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and attitudes toward reading in early adolescence: the effect on reading comprehension. Psychological Topics, 23(1), 77–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesley, M., Watson, P., & Elliot, S. (2007). “School” reading and multiple texts: examining the metacognitive development of secondary-level preservice teachers. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(2), 150–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maas, C. J. M., & Hox, J. J. (2005). Sufficient sample sizes for multilevel modeling. Methodology, 1, 86–92. doi:10.1027/1614-1881.1.3.86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer, P. C., Verloop, N., & Beijaard, D. (1999). Exploring language teachers’ practical knowledge about teaching reading comprehension. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15(1), 59–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2010). MPlus user’s guide (6th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

  • National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: an evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human development. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/documents/report.pdf. Accessed 16 Jul 2015.

  • Neuenhaus, N., Artelt, C., Lingel, K., & Schneider, W. (2011). Fifth graders’ metacognitive knowledge: general or domain-specific? European Journal of Psychology of Education, 26(2), 163–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, T., & McNamara, T. S. (2007). The impact of science knowledge, reading skill, and reading strategy knowledge on more traditional “high-stakes” measures of high school students’ science achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 44(1), 161–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2009). PISA 2009 assessment framework. Key competencies in reading, mathematics and science. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/44455820.pdf. Accessed 16 Jul 2015.

  • OECD (2010). PISA 2009 results: learning to learn—student engagement, strategies and practices (Vol. III). http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264083943-en. Accessed 16 Jul 2015.

  • OECD (2014). PISA 2012 results: what students know and can do—student performance in mathematics, reading and science (Vol. I, Revised ed.). http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264201118-en. Accessed 16 Jul 2015.

  • Peugh, J. L. (2010). A practical guide to multilevel modeling. Journal of School Psychology, 48(1), 85–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pressley, M., & Gaskins, I. V. (2006). Metacognitively competent reading comprehension is constructively responsive reading: how can such reading be developed in students? Metacognition and Learning, 1(1), 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roeschl-Heils, A., Schneider, W., & van Kraayenoord, C. E. (2003). Reading, metacognition and motivation: a follow-up study of German students in grades 7 and 8. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 18(1), 75–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, M. B., Linek, W. M., Raine, I. L., & Szabo, S. (2013). The influence of prior knowledge, university coursework, and field experience on primary preservice teachers’ use of reading comprehension strategies in a year-long, field-based teacher education program. Literacy Research and Instruction, 52(4), 281–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlagmüller, M., & Schneider, W. (2007). Würzburger Lesestrategie-Wissenstest für die Klassen 7–12 (WLST 7–12) [Wuerzburg reading strategy knowledge test for grades 7 to 12]. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W. (2008). The development of metacognitive knowledge in children and adolescents: major trends and implications for education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 2(3), 114–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoonen, R., Hulstijn, J., & Bossers, B. (1998). Metacognitive and language-specific knowledge in native and foreign language reading comprehension: an empirical study among Dutch students in grades 6, 8, and 10. Language Learning, 48(1), 71–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spor, M. W., & Schneider, B. K. (1999). Content reading strategies: what teachers know, use, and want to learn. Reading Research and Instruction, 38(3), 221–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spor, M. W., & Schneider, B. K. (2001). A quantitative description of the content reading practices of beginning readers. Reading Horizons, 41(4), 257–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vabariigi Valitsus [Government of the Estonian Republic] (2011). Põhikooli riiklik õppekava [National curriculum for basic school]. https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/129082014020. Accessed 16 Jul 2015.

  • van Gelderen, A., Schoonen, R., Stoel, R. D., de Glopper, K., & Hulstijn, J. (2007). Development of adolescent reading comprehension in language 1 and language 2: a longitudinal analysis of constituent components. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(3), 477–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Kraayenoord, C. E., Beinicke, A., Schlagmüller, M., & Schneider, W. (2012). Word identification, metacognitive knowledge, motivation and reading comprehension: an Australian study of grade 3 and 4 pupils. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 35(1), 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vista, A. (2013). The role of reading comprehension in maths achievement growth: investigating the magnitude and mechanism of the mediating effect on maths achievement in Australian classrooms. International Journal of Educational Research, 62, 21–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M. C., Haertel, G. D., & Walberg, H. J. (1990). What influences learning? A content analysis of review literature. Journal of Educational Research, 84(1), 30–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zohar, A. (1999). Teachers’ metacognitive knowledge and the instruction of higher order thinking. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15(4), 413–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zohar, A. (2006). The nature and development of teachers’ metastrategic knowledge in the context of teaching higher order thinking. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(3), 331–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120, Tallinn, Estonia

    Piret Soodla, Anna-Liisa Jõgi & Eve Kikas

Authors
  1. Piret Soodla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anna-Liisa Jõgi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eve Kikas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Piret Soodla.

Ethics declarations

All students had their parents’ written permission to participate in the study.

Additional information

Piret Soodla. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia. E-mail: piret.soodla@tlu.ee.

Current themes of research:

Development of reading skills. The role of individual and classroom-related factors (i.e., teaching practices, teachers’ knowledge) in students’ literacy development. Factors related to teachers’ judgments of students’ academic skills.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Soodla, P., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Niemi, P., Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2015). Does early reading instruction promote the rate of acquisition? A comparison of two transparent orthographies. Learning and Instruction, 38, 14–23.

Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., & Soodla, P. (2015). The effects of children’s reading skills and interest on teacher perceptions of children’s skills and individualized support. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39, 402–412.

Soodla, P. (2012). Teachers’ judgments of monolingual and bilingual students’ reading skills: Child-, class-, and teacher-related factors. In A. Toomela, E. Kikas (Ed.-s.), Children studying in a wrong language: Russian speaking children in Estonian school. Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union (pp. 123–151). Peter Lang Verlag.

Soodla, P. & Kikas, E. (2010). Teachers’ judgment of students’ reading difficulties and factors related to its accuracy. In A. Toomela (Ed.), Systemic person-oriented study of child development in early primarly school (pp. 73–94). Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag.

Anna-Liisa Jõgi. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia. E-mail: annaliisa.jogi@tlu.ee.

Current themes of research:

Development of math skills. Motivation and learning behavior in primary school. Self-regulated learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Jõgi, A.-L, Kikas, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., & Mägi, K. (2015). Cross-lagged relations between math-related interest, performance goals and skills in groups of children with different general abilities. Learning and Individual Differences, 39, 105–113.

Jõgi, A-L., Mägi, K., & Kikas, E. (2011). Maths-specific performance goals, interest and self-concept, and their relationship to previous task-avoidant behaviour. In J. Mikk, M. Veisson, P. Luik (Ed.-s.), Preschool and primary education (pp. 106–120). Peter Lang Verlag.

Eve Kikas. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia. E-mail: eve.kikas@tlu.ee.

Current themes of research:

Children’s development and learning in kindergarten and school. The role of individual characteristics and contextual factors (e.g., teaching practices, parental support) in students’ learning, considering varying skill levels and ages.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., & Soodla, P. (2015). The Effects of Children’s Reading Skills and Interest on Teacher Perceptions of Children’s Skills and Individualized Support. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39, 402–412. DOI: 10.1177/0165025415573641

Kikas, E., Peets, K., & Hodges, E. (2014). Collective Student Characteristics Alter the Effects of Teaching Practices on Academic Outcomes. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 273–283.

Kikas, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Pakarinen, E., Poikonen, P.-L (2014). Family- and classroom-related factors and mother-kindergarten teacher trust in Estonia and Finland. Educational Psychology.

Kikas, E., Peets, K., Palu, A., & Afanasjev, J. (2009). The role of individual and contextual factors in the development of maths skills. Educational Psychology, 29, 541–560.

Kikas, E.; Peets, K.; Tropp, K.; Hinn, M. (2009). Associations between Verbal Reasoning, Normative Beliefs about Aggression, and Aggression. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 19, 137–149.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Soodla, P., Jõgi, AL. & Kikas, E. Relationships between teachers’ metacognitive knowledge and students’ metacognitive knowledge and reading achievement. Eur J Psychol Educ 32, 201–218 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0293-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0293-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation