L5. Establish a coaching model designed to achieve the goals of the data-informed plan for improving literacy instruction.

In this lesson, you and your campus-based leadership team will learn about literacy coaches and the coaching model elements that support evidence-based literacy programs and practices.

Part 1 provides information about the characteristics and duties of secondary literary coaches.

Part 2 describes the activities of an effective literary coach.

Part 3 presents the elements of a successful coaching model.

To get started, download the Implementation Guide for this component and refer to the Action Step for this lesson. Review the Implementation Indicators for each level of implementation and note the Sample Evidence listed at the bottom of the chart.

As you learned in the previous lesson, instructional leadership is key to any campus improvement efforts. When schools work to build capacity among staff and have systems in place to support instructional leadership, teachers receive systematic and consistent support in their professional growth.

Another way to ensure strong instructional leadership is through an effective instructional coaching model. The Texas State Literacy Plan (TSLP) directs schools to adopt and implement a coaching model to support research-based literacy practices and aid in the improvement measures outlined in each campus’s data-informed plan. The Indicators suggest hiring literacy coaches to perform this role. In this section, we will define the job of the literacy coach, along with the recommended roles and qualifications. If your campus has not planned to hire coaches this year, you and your leadership team can use the information in this lesson in your efforts to build capacity at your campus. You may integrate the actions described here into the roles of the instructional leader(s) currently identified at your campus. Also, you may use what you learn in this section as you think about hiring a literacy coach at a future time.

A foundational resource for guiding your work on Action Step L5 is the Standards for Middle and High School Literacy Coaches. This 2006 International Reading Association publication provides a useful description of literacy coaches: “Master teachers who provide essential leadership for the school’s overall literacy program” (p. 1).

These standards for literacy coaches include two sections: one focusing on a school-wide leadership role and a second outlining the disciplinary literacy support teachers in each content area need. The structure of these standards is as follows:

• Standard 1: Skillful collaborators – Content-area literacy coaches are skilled collaborators who function effectively in middle school and/or high school settings.
• Standard 2: Skillful job-embedded coaches – Content-area literacy coaches are skilled instructional coaches for secondary teachers in the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
• Standard 3: Skillful evaluators of literacy needs – Content-area literacy coaches are skilled evaluators of literacy needs within various subject areas and are able to collaborate with secondary school leadership teams and teachers to interpret and use assessment data to inform instruction.

• Standard 4: Skillful instructional strategists – Content-area literacy coaches are accomplished middle and high school teachers who are skilled in developing and implementing instructional strategies to improve academic literacy in the specific content area (International Reading Association, p. 5).

For each of the standards, you will also find a breakdown of specific elements related to each standard. The performances listed for each element help to explain specific actions needed by the literacy coach. Standard 4 includes elements and performances for each of the core content areas: English language arts and reading, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Note: Beginning literacy coaches may not possess all of the knowledge, skills, and suggested qualifications outlined in the standards (see To Learn More). These skills combine knowledge of effective instruction, reading and writing both generally and specifically for each discipline, and facilitation of change processes and professional learning, just to name a few. You will need to allow those serving as coaches to continually build their own expertise. The standards and the list of qualifications can serve as the basis for setting goals and creating a professional learning plan for literacy coaches.

TO LEARN MORE: View and/or download Qualifications for Secondary Literary Coaches for more information.

The starting point for the literacy coach is data and the campus data-informed plan for improving literacy instruction. As the standards outline, a coach’s role may include using data to identify and prioritize areas of need. For this reason, you may include literacy coaches on your campus-based leadership team or invite them to contribute to your discussions and planning as needed. The knowledge that literacy coaches bring—their qualifications and their experience working with your staff on a continuous basis—will help with many of the decisions you and your team make as you work on the Action Steps in the TSLP.

In addition to using data at the campus planning level, the literacy coach needs to collect and use data to support teachers and students in daily instructional settings. The literacy coach uses student achievement and observational data observations to respond to this question: Is instruction effective?

An effective coaching model focuses on instruction rather than the evaluation of individual teachers and students. This focus on instruction helps create a collaborative culture in which teachers are supported and encouraged to try new practices and tools as they help students read and write effectively in their content classes. Interactions between literacy coaches and teachers are marked by collaboration and respect.

To ensure a collaborative climate, coaches can implement a cycle of pre- and post-observation activities. One model of coaching includes a pre-observation meeting and post-observation debriefing and reflection between the coach and the teacher who is observed. During this pre-observation conference, the teacher and coach talk about the lesson plan and may do some planning together. Often, they will focus on implementing one aspect of a recent professional development session. During a pre-observation conference, teachers receive support with one or more of the following:

• Understanding and using data to make instructional decisions related to literacy instruction
• Selecting text and instructional materials according to curriculum and student needs
• Applying intervention strategies for students in Tier II and Tier III of response to intervention (RTI), as appropriate
• Integrating vocabulary, literacy, and metacognitive reading strategies into content instruction
• Analyzing disciplinary text patterns and planning instruction that shows students how to use these patterns to comprehend and create sophisticated texts
• Accessing evidence-based current research and applying it in their classrooms
• Clarifying content and language objectives
• Determining how to assess what students have learned
• Adjusting instruction and instructional settings to meet a range of literacy needs for individual students

Following the observation, teachers and coaches debrief, reflecting on successes and challenges encountered during the observed lesson. Together, they revisit goals and formulate steps that can be taken to achieve professional development goals. In the next part of this lesson, you will learn more about how observation and feedback fit into the broader scope of an effective coaching model.

TO LEARN MORE: These resources provide additional information about the work and role of coaches in school settings:

The Kansas Coaching Project: Instructional Coaching website at the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas includes free downloadable coaching resources and research articles.

Action Step L5 prompts you to adopt a specific coaching model. All effective coaching models should have certain elements in common, as seen in this graphic:

The graphic above illustrates the cyclical nature of coaching. Let’s explore each of the elements in the coaching cycle.

Professional development – Coaches work with teachers to help them implement the evidence-based practices that are the focus of professional learning experiences. These experiences may take the form of traditional large-group face-to-face training or professional development sessions. They may also occur in smaller groups and more informal professional development sessions. Coaches can also assist campus-based leadership teams in identifying needs for professional development based on data analysis.

Modeling – Coaches model evidence-based practices in the classroom so that teachers can experience the translation of theory learned during professional development sessions into practices that apply to the real world of the classroom. Modeling can provide the opportunity for teachers to make direct connections to their own instruction as they witness the successful use of new practices in their subject area and with their students.

Observation and feedback – Coaches observe teachers as they begin to implement evidence-based practices for themselves. Observations may be conducted after a modeling session. Observations can also occur prior to the planning or delivery of new professional development to gain insight into current practices. Whatever the purpose of the observation, teachers need to be informed of the observations and given feedback. Positive feedback on effective practices that are already in place is essential for creating a comfortable climate in which teachers are open to more change-oriented feedback in the future.

“Right-on-time” professional development – After observing teachers attempting to implement specific literacy practices, literacy coaches can convene a short, targeted session to address difficulties and misconceptions they observed during instruction. These sessions are less formal than other types of professional development but are very effective when provided immediately after the observations—within the same week—and when they provide concrete examples, modeling, and opportunities for teachers to practice and get real-time feedback on the specific practice.

Regular communication with campus leaders – To be effective, coaches require the support of campus leaders: administrators, department heads, team leaders, and others. Coaches should communicate regularly with campus leaders to share the focus of their efforts and how leaders can support these efforts. For example, coaches may remind campus administrators to notice when content teachers use best practices such as think-alouds to model the use of comprehension strategies during class. When administrators or department heads recognize teachers for their attempts to use new practices, their motivation to continue these practices increases.

Coaches do not evaluate teachers as administrators do in formal performance evaluations or appraisals. Nor should they provide evaluative information about the individual teachers they work with. While it may be tempting for administrators to ask for this information to inform their own role as campus leader, coaches must maintain the trust and confidentiality of the teachers with whom they work. The purpose of the coach’s classroom visits and other collaboration with teachers is to help improve instruction.

Coaches should let teachers and administrators know that they will provide campus leaders with only general feedback on group needs and progress for the purpose of planning future support and prioritizing resources. Coaches do not report information about individual teacher performance to supervisors.

Coaching teachers is an ongoing process with repeated visits and coaching conversations. Evaluative observations need to remain distinct from this process and occur only after sufficient time has been allowed for the coaching impact to occur. Personnel with both supervisory and coaching roles will need to establish a special relationship of trust with the teachers they are coaching. Schools with a sufficient number of such personnel can assign coaches to teachers whom they do not supervise. In any case, every effort should be made to separate the coaching and supervisory roles on your campus.

TO LEARN MORE: To learn more about implementing a coaching model, including how to evaluate its effectiveness, see The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement’s publication “Issue Brief: Instructional Coaching.”

NEXT STEPS: Depending on your progress in implementing a coaching model to support the goals of your data-informed plan for improving literacy instruction, you may want to consider some of the following next steps:

• Establish a coaching model, including roles, duties, and a schedule.
• Recruit and/or hire coaches with the suggested qualifications.
• Identify existing personnel who can perform coaching actions as part of a current role, such as a department head or instructional leader.
• Establish professional learning goals for coaches and plan for ongoing professional development about coaching.
• Introduce coaches and explain their roles to content-area teachers.
• Invite coaches to participate in the campus-based leadership team meetings when appropriate.
• Coordinate professional development activities with literacy coach support.
• Implement a process for identifying teachers who need more or fewer hours of coaching support.
• Assess the effectiveness of the coaching program.

L5. Establish a coaching model designed to achieve the goals of the data-informed plan for improving literacy instruction.

With your site/campus-based leadership team, review your team’s self-assessed rating for Action Step L5 in the TSLP Implementation Status Ratings document and then respond to the four questions in the assignment.

TSLP Implementation Status Ratings 6-12

In completing your assignment with your team, the following resources and information from this lesson’s content may be useful to you:

• Refer to Part 1 for characteristics and duties of literacy coaches.
• Refer to Part 2 for information about the activities of an effective literacy coach.
• Refer to Part 3 for information about coaching models.

Next Steps also contains suggestions that your campus may want to consider when you focus your efforts on this Action Step.

To record your responses, go to the Assignment template for this lesson and follow the instructions.

International Reading Association. (2006). Standards for middle and high school literacy coaches. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.