Literacy coaching is still a “very hot” issue as reported by respondents to IRA’s “What’s Hot, What’s Not” survey for 2007. Coaching was very hot last year as well.
That doesn’t surprise Rita Bean, professor of instruction and learning at the University of Pittsburgh, and a former Board member of the International Reading Association. She said one major reason is that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates raising levels of literacy achievement overall.
“The emphasis is on teaching ALL students to read,” she said. Schools, therefore, have recognized they must improve classroom instructional practices by providing their teaching staffs the professional development resources needed to achieve improvement in literacy.
Schools are under serious pressure to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals under NCLB until 95% proficiency is reached by 2015, said Nancy Shanklin, director of the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse (LCC). That’s a very good reason why literacy coaching is hot, she said. The launching of the online clearinghouse in October 2006 (www.literacycoachingonline.org), a joint project of IRA and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), delighted many literacy coaches.
Teachers sincerely do want to be exposed to professional learning, Shanklin said. For many of them, finding the time to do so is problematic. Shanklin has found teachers prefer the professional development during the school day rather than weekends or evenings. And that’s another reason why literacy coaching is gaining in importance. It is an ongoing “job-embedded form of professional development tailored to an individual teacher’s need,” Shanklin explains.
Research corroborates that “one-shot workshops and seminars disconnected from the school context have seldom resulted in substantive and sustained change in classrooms,” Bean said. Bean cites the work of researchers that shows when teachers participate in professional development activities over an extended period of time that is closely related to their actual work as a teacher, addresses content, and provides feedback, they are more likely to incorporate innovations or new techniques into their personal pedagogical practices.
And Bean has seen the powerful effects of continuous coaching. During recent visits to schools, she saw experienced teachers, comfortable in their new roles as coaches, using different techniques and varying approaches to connect with their teaching staff and students.
“What was impressive was that coaches were very familiar, not only with the teachers in their schools but with the students. It was obvious that the coaches were in the classroom on a regular basis,” she said.
As more and more districts turn to literacy coaching, the issues faced by coaches at a practical, operational level are becoming more clearly defined. By scanning the blog postings at the LCC from October through December, one can see one important issue surfacing—how to build trust among literacy coaches, classroom teachers, and principals.
Teachers report on the blog that a lot of coaches are new to their positions and, as a result, are struggling to define their roles. They find resistance at times because some teachers being coached believe “coaching feedback” is a new name for one more in a long list of assessments of teacher competency. In the forum section of the LCC website, several practical works are cited by Shanklin that outline how a reading coach and a principal can dispel any negative connotations associated with “feedback” and instead develop a partnership with shared goals and a vision for the school.
“The literacy coach can help to mediate between a school’s vision for what literacy instruction ought to be like for students and what is being accomplished in classrooms,” Shanklin said. “Literacy coaches can help teachers reflect upon their assessment data and instruction, model new teaching ideas for them, and gradually help teachers become independent in using new methods themselves.”
Some coaches on the blog are striving to articulate a clear distinction between the work of a literacy coach and that of educators in other specialist roles. Many new coaches have had prior experience as reading specialists, curriculum developers, or resource teachers. These coaches demonstrate an understanding that they are not there to “fix the kid” at a one-to-one level, as reading specialists often do, but are there to help teachers be more effective by supporting classroom teachers. Other blogs concerned the need for ongoing professional development for coaches.
Concern also is expressed about the current large investment in literacy coaching when many say there is so little empirical data about its effectiveness, Bean said. In conversations with school board members and legislators she often is asked whether literacy coaching works, does it help teachers do a better job, and is it cost-effective, she said. In response, Bean points out that research has shown that overall, high-quality teachers do make a difference.
Bean said, however, that most of the available studies address reactions to the coaching experience. Acknowledging that “it will be difficult to isolate the effects of coaching..., we do need well-designed studies that attempt to address the impact of literacy coaching on student learning.” She raises questions about the specifics of coaching: What kind of coaching is most effective and what are the qualifications of those who would serve?
IRA has taken the position that effective coaching is directly linked to the qualifications of a literacy coach. Briefly, coaches must be excellent classroom teachers; they should have in-depth knowledge of reading instruction and assessment; they should have experience in working with adult learners (i.e., teachers); they must be excellent presenters and group leaders; and finally they must have the experience and technical ability to model reading instruction, observe teachers in the classroom, and relay constructive feedback.
Literacy coaching is on track to becoming an educational fixture in the years to come. And though there are many unanswered questions and unresolved issues, Bean is undaunted by the challenges ahead. “This is an exciting time,” she said. “I believe we will learn much in the next few years—not only about literacy coaching but about how we can provide the support that is needed for teachers to provide quality literacy instruction in their classrooms.”
Literacy coaching: Still on the front burner. (February 2007). Reading Today, 24(4), 12.
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