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Literacy Coaches: Promises and Problems Sebastian Wren. One of the most important variables determining the literacy success or failure of an "at-risk" student is the quality of that student's literacy teachers. Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985 Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998
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Literacy Coaches: Promises and Problems Sebastian Wren
One of the most important variables determining the literacy success or failure of an "at-risk" student is the quality of that student's literacy teachers. Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985 Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998 Ferguson, & Ladd, 1996
Teacher quality (knowledge and skills) is significantly influenced by the quality of professional development that teacher receives. Gallagher, 2002 Farrell and Cirrincione, 1986 Joyce and Showers, 1995 Lyons and Pinnell, 2001
High-quality professional development adheres to 5 core principles: • Authentic and job-embedded • Ongoing • Data-driven • Outcome and task oriented • Collaborative (synthesized from Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1999; Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995; Joyce and Showers, 1995, 1996; McLaughlin and Talbert, 2001; Lieberman, 1995)
A literacy coach model for professional development is believed to be an effective approach for building teacher quality in literacy instruction that adheres to the 5 principles of professional development. Lyons and Pinnell, 2001 Sturtevant, 2003 Neufeld and Roper, 2003 Dole, 2004
A "literacy coach" is a knowledgeable and credible professional primarily tasked with "coaching" other teachers to build their knowledge and skills as literacy teachers. Bean, 2004 Coggins, Stoddard, and Cutler, 2003 Walpole & McKenna, 2004
There have been literacy coaches in the middle- and upper-grades for decades. Sturtevant, 2003
However, there has been a recent "rapid proliferation" of literacy coaches across the country, primarily in the lower grades. International Reading Association, 2004
There have been thousands of new coaches staffed in schools across the country in recent years, and there have been calls for tens of thousands more. Sturtevant, 2003
Staffing and supporting 1 full-time literacy coach can easily cost $100,000 per year. With millions spent on literacy coaches across the country, and with the literacy (life) success of students in the balance, we should really understand literacy coaches very well.
Core research questions: • To what extent does adding a literacy coach to a school improve student achievement? • What specific roles and behaviors of the literacy coach are most important for success? • What are the characteristics of a literacy coach that are most often associated with success? • What role, if any, do school and district leaders have to play in supporting the literacy coach to maximize effectiveness?
Interesting research questions: • Can one literacy coach be effective when divided among more than one school campus? • Is there a "coach-teacher ratio" that is optimal? • What is the trade-off between percentage of time and measurable school improvement? (i.e. Is a 0.5 FTE literacy coach half as effective as a 1.0 FTE literacy coach?) • Are there other advantages to having more than one literacy coach in a school? (e.g. mutual professional support, complementing talents, etc.)
Interesting research questions: • What percentage of time and energy should be dedicated to each of the critical roles and behaviors of the literacy coach? • What kind and level of training or support is effective for developing effective behaviors and characteristics in a literacy coach?
A great deal has been written about literacy coaches -- articles, books, internet sites. And much advice and guidance has been provided as answers to the questions listed above. However, little information is to be found in peer-reviewed research publications.
Most of what we know about literacy coaches has come from very informal literature and testimony from experts. Controlled studies have not been reported. Most evidence comes from descriptions of successful literacy coaches.
The informal, largely anecdotal evidence is substantial -- dozens of articles, policy briefs, white papers, chapters and several books have been dedicated to the topic. That alone would be fairly compelling if it were convergent and consistent.
It isn't. Consider the advice given in various reports about the roles and responsibilities of the literacy coach.
