Doctoral defense in education science: Auður Soffíu Björgvinsdóttir

Auður Soffíu Björgvinsdóttir defends her PhD thesis in Educational Sciences from the Faculty of education and pedagogy, University of Iceland. 

Foundational Reading Skills for All: Assessment and explicit teaching in inclusive classrooms.

The oral defence takes place Friday March 28th., at 13:00 pm in the Aula in the main building of the University of Iceland as well as in live stream. Link to live stream

Opponents are dr. Sonia Cabell Associate Professor at Florida State University and Dr Shayne Piasta Professor at The Ohio State University.

Mainsupervisor was dr. Anna Lind Pétursdóttir Professor at School of Education, University of Iceland and co-supervisor was dr. Kristen McMaster Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Expert in the Doctoral Committee was Dr Kristján Ketill Stefánsson Assistant Professor at School of Education, University of Iceland and Sigurgrímur Skúlason Adjunct Lecturer at Faculty of Psychology, University of Iceland.

Þórdís Lilja Gísladóttir head of Faculty of Health Promotion, Sport and Leisure Studies will conduct the ceremony.

All are welcome.

About the project:

Good reading skills are essential for active participation in society. Results from the reading comprehension section of PISA and reading fluency tests administered to most students in Grades 1-10 indicate that there are many opportunities for improvement in reading instruction in Icelandic elementary schools.

The doctoral project involves three studies focusing on the reading skills of students in grades 1 and 2, particularly those showing signs of reading difficulties at the beginning of elementary school.

In the first study, the assessment of reading in the 1st grade was examined. Assessment of reading skills is essential for addressing reading difficulties with early intervention. The results revealed little consistency in the implementation of reading assessments and a lack of progress monitoring of foundational skills. Overall, the findings indicated that the assessment practices often did not effectively identify and support children at risk for reading difficulties.

The second study examined the effects of K-PALS and First Grade PALS on the reading skills of children showing signs of reading difficulties.

In the second and third studies, the effects of the teaching methods K-PALS (Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies) and First Grade PALS or G-PALS (First Grade Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies) were examined. These methods involve targeted instruction using phonics and peer support. In K-PALS, the focus is on teaching phonological and phonemic awareness, letter sounds, and decoding. In G-PALS, training in reading fluency in continuous text and repeated reading over time is added.

Participants were students in 1st grade from two cohorts in eight schools. Students in four schools received reading instruction with PALS, while students in the other four schools received instruction with Byrjendalæsi or phonics method other than PALS. The results showed that students who received PALS instruction improved their reading skills more than those in the comparison group, with significantly better outcomes on all measured variables.

The third study investigated the long-term effects of using PALS. Students from the first cohort of the second study were followed over two school years. The results showed that continued use of PALS in classroom instruction yielded significantly better outcomes for students showing signs of reading difficulties compared to instruction in the comparison schools. The results of studies two and three showed that the use of PALS in classroom instruction increased the likelihood that students who had shown signs of reading difficulties would achieve foundational reading skills.

The results of the research highlight important aspects of assessment and reading instruction at the early stages of primary education in Iceland and can be used to improve children's reading skills, especially those at risk of reading difficulties. The research was funded by a grant from the Icelandic Research Fund (grant number 207216-051) and is part of a larger study called Samvinna um læsi fyrir alla.

About the doctoral candidate

Auður Soffíu Björgvinsdóttir (b. 1976) completed a B.Ed. degree from the Iceland University of Education in 2005 and an MA degree in Educational Sciences with a focus on Reading Studies from the University of Akureyri in 2017. She taught at Álftanesskóli from 2004 to 2022, initially as a class teacher at the primary level, later as a special education teacher in reading at all levels of the school, and as a school librarian. Auður participated in shaping the school's literacy policy and reading instruction from 2010, first by participating in the professional management of reading and writing and later as the literacy project manager at the school. Auður held a temporary position as a literacy consultant at the Directorate of Education, primarily working on the development of teaching and support materials for parent education and reading. Auður is currently an adjunct at the School of Education and has also been involved in teaching at the University of Akureyri. Auður is married to Sveinbjörn Berentsson, and they have three children.