Teaming Up with Literacy Coaches

In this issue of Northwest Education, we visit some places in our region where literacy coaches clearly are making their mark. At one Oregon high school, a coach inspires teachers to incorporate literacy lessons whether the subject is biology or geometry. In Alaska’s largest district, coaches are helping to boost elementary reading scores. And, in Idaho and Washington, intensive professional development provides robust coaching for coaches.

Whether they’re working in preschools or high schools, we can only urge coaches to get their game on. In the words of Vince Lombardi, “It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever, the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.”

Download this issue as a PDF, 56pp., 2M.

Features

Finding Gold at the End of the Rainbow
Based on the success of Reading First, Anchorage expands literacy coaching to all primary schools.

• Cereal and Stories: A Breakfast Reading Club Fills Minds and Tummies
  Committed volunteers host a before-school story hour to promote reading.

Putting It All Together
A well-coordinated reading program with coaching support helps ELL students succeed in one rural Washington elementary.

What We Know—and Don’t Know—About Coaching
Esteemed Stanford University Professor Michael Kamil talks about the need to recruit and train qualified coaches.

Side by Side
Idaho’s Reading First coaches receive targeted advice from the pros.

Serious Play
An innovative curriculum brings coaches and play-based literacy lessons to Head Start programs.

Acting Out
Drama-rich literacy strategies take center stage in one school district’s secondary classrooms.

• Redefining Literacy for the Adolescent Learner: A Conversation With Jeffrey Wilhelm
  A Boise State professor and nationally known author weighs in on the gender gap in literacy.

Getting on the Same Page
Literacy lessons aren’t just for English teachers in a large suburban Oregon high school.

Lessons for a Lifetime
In an idyllic Montana setting, a popular instructional model uses metacognitive strategies to improve reading comprehension and empower students.

departments

Forum

Editor’s Note

Voices
Revisiting Your Literacy Coaching Program

Research Brief
Connecting Coaching and Improved Literacy

Region at a Glance
The Different Meanings of Proficiency

End Note
Chalk It Up for Literacy

NWREL News
Hearings Shed Light on Regional Needs
Improvement Process Targets Increasing Reading Proficiency
Popular Research Synthesis Reissued
Conference Call
Flashback
What’s New on the Web
NWREL Services

What the Research Says (or Doesn’t Say)
Reviewing Research on Literacy Development in Language-Minority Students

Masthead