The Effective Literacy Coach

Book excerpt: This innovative book moves beyond the day-to-day matters of coaching to a deeper examination of how literacy coaching can improve instructional practice. The authors offer research-based strategies that can be used to create the professional and dynamic relationships needed for successful teacher–coach collaborations. Readers will hear the voices of coaches as they analyze their own efforts to scaffold adult learning, guide collaborative inquiry, and support teacher reflection. Featuring concrete examples, this practical book: Provides a model for literacy coaches to analyze and examine their own practice. Details the importance of systematic observation of teaching and how to use observation to shape subsequent coaching sessions. Examines guiding teacher inquiry in whole groups, small groups, and pairs, to reflect and act on teaching and coaching. Charts the usefulness of teachers and coaches talking about teaching, and how this supports the change of teaching practices. “The authors have provided a rich description of what literacy coaches actually do as they work daily with teachers. Each chapter is soundly grounded in the research literature but goes beyond it to provide many practical examples.” —From the Foreword by Gay Su Pinnell, The Ohio State University “The authors deal deftly with key aspects of coaching that characterize successful coaches and for which even the most knowledgeable literacy coaches are often ill-prepared. An excellent resource for anyone whose responsibilities sometimes include the role of coach.” —Dorothy S. Strickland, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey