Running head: Literacy Coach Support

How Can a Literacy Coach Support the Effective Teaching of Literacy?

Natasha Amber Bryant
READ 6418
Dr. Ran Hu
May, 30th 2013

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

How Can a Literacy Coach Support the Effective Teaching of Literacy?

What is the job of a literacy coach? There are many different responses and opinions to
this question. After considering all of the opposing points-of-view teacher support is a common
theme among all resources. Before beginning to think about the job of a literacy coach one must
understand what it truly means to be a coach. Literacy is the key to all learning. Teaching
children to read, understand what they read, and apply what they learn from reading is key to
preparing 21st century learners. Literacy coaches should serve as a vital resource to teachers. In
order for this support to be effective the literacy coach must have an appreciation for the
classroom teachers role. The main responsibility of a literacy coach is to provide the support
that teachers need in order to deliver research based strategies for literacy that will meet each
individual childs needs. The purpose of this research paper is to provide evidence for the
placement of a literacy coach in every school, in order to provide the teacher the support
necessary to achieve effective literacy instruction for all students.
Literature Review
The role of the literacy coach in the elementary school is changing. This position is
sometimes also referred to as, Reading Specialist. Although I have noticed that both titles are
used in the research, the roles are different. Research shows a shift of the reading specialist role
changing to that of a Literacy coach. There are numerous articles and studies published on this
topic, and after review, three main themes exist. The first theme is quality professional
development. Research supports the important need that teachers have concerning their
professional development in literacy. In The Changing Role of the Reading Specialist in School

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

Reform, Dole (2004) explains that the reading specialist is no longer someone who works
directly with students, but someone who works directly with teachers as a coach or mentor. This
supports the shift in the title of this role. In this new role, the literacy coach supports teachers in
their daily work by planning, modeling, team-teaching, and providing feedback on lessons
completed in collaboration with classroom teachers. In addition, the literacy coach helps teachers
understand how assessment and instruction work hand in hand and data from assessments drive
teaching practices. Dole also includes that in the No Child Left Behind legislation, the Reading
First Initiative views literacy coaches as key in professional development. In The New Meaning
of Educational Change, Michael Fullan (1991) laments, Nothing has promised so much and has
been so frustratingly wasteful as the thousands of workshops and conferences that led to no
significant change in practice when teachers returned to their classrooms. Coaching happens
with real students, in real classrooms, with real teachers.
The second theme noticed in the research was teacher support. Teacher support is more
than providing professional development. In Preparing Reading Specialist to be Literacy
Coaches: Principles, Practices, Possibilities, Shaw (2007) suggests building literacy coach
initiatives through IRAs three levels of coaching. This approach begins with informal support
and progresses to a more direct assistance. Part of this tiered framework requires that teacher
develop a trust before they can allow someone to provide help or suggest changes in instruction
delivery. In Teaching all Children to Read: The Roles of the Reading Specialist, Santa (2000)
states that there is strong agreement that schools will succeed only when teachers have the
expertise and competence needed to teach reading effectively. That competence comes when
teachers feel confident in the instruction that they are delivering and when they trust the literacy
coach enough to have meaningful and honest conversations about what is happening in the

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

classroom. In Your Role and the Task at Hand: The Responsibilities of a Coach in Supporting
Effective Literacy, Mraz (2009) states that literacy coaches must create and maintain supportive
professional collaboration with teachers. The teacher-coach relationship is reciprocal: teachers
learn from coaches, coaches learn from teachers, and both learn from students.
Thirdly, research suggests that literacy coaches must possess some very important
qualities. In Your Role and the Task at Hand: The Responsibilities of a Coach in Supporting
Effective Literacy, Mraz (2009) specifically outlines the qualities of a successful literacy coach.
Mraz states that literacy coaches become content experts, collaborative advisors and confidants,
and honor the knowledge of the teacher. Credible literacy coaches know how young children
develop and thrive as readers and writers. Teachers need affirmation that the coach that they are
working with is knowledgeable in the field of teaching young children to read. In The Changing
Role of the Reading Specialist in School Reform, Dole (2004) states that effective reading
coaches have to have a greater level of reading expertise than the teacher they are coaching.
Effective coaches can identify critically important skills and strategies that students need to learn
to become proficient readers, and they know different methods of instruction to teach those skills
and strategies.
Research supports that knowledgeable literacy coaches improves the effective teaching of
literacy. Teachers must trust the literacy coach that they are working with. Literacy success is
achieved by on-going quality professional development, teacher support, and highly qualified
literacy coaches possessing the important qualities outlined above.

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

Reflection
After examining the research that is available on the effectiveness of literacy coaches and
literacy instruction, I feel strongly that a great need exists for this instructional support in all
schools. Teachers need the support and collaboration that this role would provide. Teachers
have so many different avenues for resources; which is wonderful, but overwhelming. Teachers
have a very full plate. A literacy coachs main responsibility is supporting teachers in providing
research based strategies for literacy that meets each individual childs needs.
The research showed evidence of the importance of this role. I could not help but think
about the data team process as I reviewed the studies. The literacy coachs role could provide
support in the five step data team process through discussing curriculum, choosing a standard
with leverage and endurance, creating a pretest for that standard, meeting again to analyze the
results of the pretest, and determining strengths and weaknesses. At that point, deciding on
common research based strategies to meet the needs of each group of learners. The data team
would then meet back together and look at the growth students made and allow the data to drive
instruction. The literacy coach would then serve as a classroom coach for the teacher to
implement the decided upon strategies. The teacher would have support in the instructional
decision made, rather than just being told to do something and being on her own.
While reviewing the literature I reflected on my own coaching abilities in the role that I
have in my school. This research will definitely improve my coaching abilities. The acronym
that Mraz (2009) included in Your Role and the Task at Hand: The Responsibilities of a Coach in
Supporting Effective Literacy really connected with me deeply. The acronym is COACH. C is for
building community because it is so important to build relationships with the teachers I work
with. O is for observing. I think one of the biggest parts of my job is to go into classrooms to

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

watch and learn. A is for analyzing. Once I observe, it is so important for me to help teachers
analyze what they did as instructors and develop their own reflective practices. C is for
communicating. It is vital that the teacher and I discuss what happened in the classroom and keep
an open line of communication. H is for help. I am there to there to help the teacher realize her
best potential. Im not there to evaluate or talk down to the teacher. I am there to help her- to
build her up. I will take this with me as I begin a new year with the teachers I work with. This
year I really focused on building relationships and developing a trust. I hope to take some of this
back to my colleagues to help assist them in the supportive role that we play with teachers.
The small rural school that I work in is an example of a school that desperately needs a
literacy coach. Funding is not available for such a position. With the knowledge that I am
gaining, I can fill in some of the gaps that occur in classrooms with literacy instruction. I want to
be that support that the teachers in my building need. I look forward to working collaboratively
to better meet the literacy needs of our students. This year my focus was on providing the staff
development needed for teachers to understand how to use their assessment data to drive their
daily instruction. We also worked on differentiating instruction to meet the needs of our
students. Next year, I want to be more hands on in the classroom. I truly want to take on the role
of a coach for the teachers that I work with. This year our county began using Reading 3D
through Wireless Generation as our literacy assessment tool. With all of the changes in
education this was a daunting task, although the benefits were evident immediately. Through the
use of this assessment tool, teachers are realizing the deficits in their students literacy. After
benchmarks, teachers meet in data teams to analyze the Reading 3D data. The team looks at the
data and makes instructional decisions based on each individual childs needs. This tool suggests
interventions for teachers to use and is also used to progress monitor and assess the effectiveness

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

of the interventions. Written comprehension has been a county wide issue after analyzing the
data. We have worked on providing professional development in this area and providing teacher
support. There is great value in the role of the literacy coach. In the future, I optimistically
anticipate the placement of a literacy coach in every elementary school. The thought of the value
this would bring to each building is exciting.
Research strongly suggests that the literacy coach supports the effective teaching of
literacy. Teachers require quality professional development that is tailored to individual teacher
needs in the real classroom, with real students, and real teachers. With all of the changes that
come in education, teachers deserve constant support in making sure that they are using research
based reading strategies to meet the literacy needs of all learners. Finally, our teachers and
students need a qualified literacy coach that has a deep understanding of how early learners learn
to read. Teachers need the support that a literacy coach provides in order to effectively teach
literacy.

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

References
Buly, M. R. (2004). What is a literacy coach?. Voices from the middle, 12
(1), 60-61. Retrieved from
http://www.ncte.org.jproxy.lib.ecu.edu/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/sep
t04/VM0121From.pdf
Dole, J. (2004). The changing role of the reading specialist in school reform.
International reading association, 57(5), 462-471. Retrieved from
http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms/data/resource/1877/RT_57_5_Dole.pdf
Hanson, L. (2011). The life of a literacy coach. Educational leadership, 69
(2), 78-81. Retrieved from C:\Users\bryanta\Desktop\Summer Session
1\Serials
Solutions Article Linker.htm
McLean, C. A., Mallozzi, C. A., & Hu, R. (2010). Literacy coaching and reading first
Redelivery: A discourse analysis. Teacher Development, 14, 253-268. doi:
10.1080/13664530.2010.494499
Mraz, M.A. , B., & Kissel, B. (2009). Your Role and the Task at Hand: The
Responsibilities of a Coach in Supporting Effective Literacy Instruction. In The
Literacy
Coach's Companion, PreK3(pp. 5-24). Thousand Oaks, CA; Newark, DE:
Corwin Press;
International Reading Association.

Running head: Literacy Coach Support

Santa, C. (2000). Teaching all children to read: The roles of the reading specialist.
International Reading Association, 44 (1), 99-104. Retrieved from
http://www.reading.org/Libraries/position-statements- ps1040_specialist.pdf
Shaw, M. (2007). Preparing reading specialist to be literacy coaches: Principles,
practices, possibilities. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 3
(1), 6-17. Retrieved from http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/archive/2007_1/preparing.pd