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Early literacy studies conducted in Germany has tended to concentrate on didactic approaches, instructional methods and classroom interaction (Einsiedler et al. 2002; Hanke, 2005; Hofmann, 2008; Weinhold, 2009). While these studies do not find any significant differences in achievement regarding the teaching approach, there is some empirical evidence that shows that the development of literacy skills is more dependent on the quality of instruction for pupils who struggle (Poerschke, 1999; May, 2001; Helmke et al., 2008). The current study investigates the influence of teachers' 'subject matter content knowledge' (Shulman, 1986) on pupils' spelling based on the theoretical model of teachers' competence of the study COACTIV (Baumert & Kunter, 2011a). The sample comprised 421 elementary school children from 29 classes. Intelligence and phonological awareness were examined at entering 1st grade, spelling at the end of 2nd grade. Teachers' knowledge was assessed employing a questionnaire. The data was analysed using a multilevel regression analysis (Hox, 2010) containing a cross-level-interaction between teachers' knowledge and the pupils' intelligence. The results reveal that the teachers' knowledge moderates the strength of the relationship between intelligence and spelling achievement. In general, when teachers reach higher scores in knowledge the effect of intelligence on spelling is weaker. This effect is significant (.10*) and remains after controlling for the phonological awareness at entering school. These results show first empirical evidence of the effect of teachers' subject matter knowledge on pupils' spelling and speak for more linguistics in the teachers' training classroom.
