Literacy coaching is currently a hot topic. This unique guide presents information and strategies to help literacy coaches meet the demands of designing and directing an elementary reading program. Step by step, this handbook provides the knowledge needed to ensure that teachers and students benefit from the concepts and methods emerging from scientifically based reading research. Invaluable reproducible tables, figures, and detailed examples illustrate best practices for:
* collecting and analyzing school-level achievement data
* selecting and organizing new curricula, texts, and resources
* conducting ongoing professional development
* providing feedback and assistance to individual teachers
* engaging the whole school community in supporting positive change.
Written by experienced literacy coach Michael C. McKenna, and prominent reading educator, Sharon Walpole. The clear and accessible style, and reproducible resources allow readers to connect with day-to-day tasks.
Sharon Walpole, PhD, is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She has extensive school-based experience, including both high school teaching and elementary school administration. Dr. Walpole served as a research assistant and as a research associate at the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA). She has also been involved in federally funded and homegrown schoolwide reform projects and participates in and studies the design and effects of schoolwide reforms, particularly those involving literacy coaches. The coauthor of two books and numerous articles, Dr. Walpole’s research interests include classroom- and school-level correlates of student achievement, particularly in schools engaged in improvement efforts.
Michael C. McKenna, PhD, is Thomas G. Jewell Professor of Reading at the University of Virginia. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of 15 books and more than 100 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. Dr. McKenna’s research has been sponsored by the National Reading Research Center and CIERA. He is the cowinner of National Reading Conference's Edward Fry Book Award and the American Library Association's Award for Outstanding Academic Books. He serves on the editorial board of Reading Research Quarterly, and has coedited themed issues of the Peabody Journal of Education and Reading and Writing Quarterly. Dr. McKenna’s research interests include comprehension in content settings, reading attitudes, technology applications, and beginning reading.