Focus on Literacy Coaches and Literacy Leadership:
Recommended Reading

Books

Click on a title to find a detailed description, and to browse contents and sample chapters.

Coaching for Balance: How to Meet the Challenges of Literacy Coaching, by Jan Miller Burkins

Leading a Successful Reading Program, by Nancy DeVries Guth and Stephanie Stephens Pettengill

The Literacy Coach’s Survival Guide, by Cathy A. Toll

Literacy Leadership, by Donald A. McAndrew

Preparing Reading Professionals

Surviving but Not Yet Thriving: Essential Questions and Practical Answers for Experienced Literacy Coaches, by Cathy A. Toll   NEW!

Understanding and Implementing Reading First Initiatives: The Changing Role of Administrators, by Carrice Cummins

Articles

Selections from recent issues of The Reading Teacher, the leading literacy journal for classroom teachers of children from preschool to age 12:

“Training paraprofessionals to effectively work with all students,” by Charlene Cobb (April 2007; vol. 60, no. 7)

“One reading specialist’s response to high-stakes testing pressures,” by Lori Assaf (Oct. 2006; vol. 60, no. 2)

“The state of reading professionals in the United States,” by Janice A. Dole et al. (Oct. 2006; vol. 60, no. 2)

“Accountability by design in literacy professional development,” by Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch, Catherine A. Rosemary, and Patricia R. Grogan (Feb. 2006; vol. 59, no. 5)

“Professional development for literacy — Who’s in charge?” by Charlene Cobb (Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006; vol. 59, no. 4)

“From dissemination to discernment: The commodification of literacy instruction and the fostering of ‘good teacher consumerism’,” by Kathryn Hibbert and Luigi Iannacci (May 2005; vol. 58, no. 8)

“The changing face of education” by Carla Dearman and Sheila R. Alber (April 2005; vol. 58, no. 7)

“Literacy teams: Sharing leadership to improve student learning” by Charlene Cobb (Feb. 2005; vol. 58, no. 5)

“A road map for reading specialists entering schools without exemplary reading programs” by Alfred W. Tatum (Sept. 2004; vol. 58, no. 1)

“The changing role of the reading specialist in school reform” by Janice A. Dole (Feb. 2004; vol. 57, no. 5)  FREE!

From the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy:

“The expertise of adolescent literacy teachers,” by Sheri R. Parris and Cathy Collins Block (April 2007; vol. 50, no. 7)

“Reading coaches: Adapting an intervention model for upper elementary and middle school readers,” by Stephanie Bacon (Feb. 2005; vol. 48, no. 5)

“Taking seriously the idea of reform,” by William G. Brozo and Charles H. Hargis (Sept. 2003; vol. 47, no. 1)  FREE!

From Reading Research Quarterly:

“The CIERA School Change Framework” by Barbara M. Taylor et al. (Jan./Feb./March 2005; vol. 40, no. 1)

From Reading Today, IRA’s membership newspaper:

“Literacy coaching: Still on the front burner” (February/March 2007)  FREE!

“Literacy Coaching clearinghouse launched” (December 2006/January 2007)  FREE!

“IRA surveys coaches” (April/May 2006)  FREE!

“Reading specialists, reading teachers, reading coaches: A question of credentials,” by Richard L. Allington. (February/March 2006)  FREE!

“Moving forward: The reading specialist as literacy coach,” by Michael L. Shaw et al. (June/July 2005)  FREE!

“Ohio creates new career path with Literacy Specialist Endorsement,” by Beth Cady (June/July 2005)  FREE!

“Coaches, controversy, consensus” (April/May 2004)  FREE!