The Literacy Coaching Challenge

When the goal is supporting excellent teaching, there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. This book helps literacy coaches and administrators navigate the many choices involved in developing and fine-tuning a coaching program that offers the best fit for a particular school.

Michael C. McKenna, PhD, was Thomas G. Jewell Professor of Reading in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia until his death in 2016. He authored, coauthored, or edited more than 20 books and over 100 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. Dr. McKenna also served as Series Editor, with Sharon Walpole, of The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy. His research was sponsored by the National Reading Research Center and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. He was a corecipient of the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association and the Award for Outstanding Academic Books from the American Library Association, and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame.
Sharon Walpole, PhD, is Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She has extensive school-based experience designing and implementing tiered instructional programs. Dr. Walpole has also been involved in federally funded and other schoolwide reform projects. Her current work involves the design and effects of schoolwide reforms. She has coauthored or coedited several books, including How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction, Second Edition: Resources for Grades K-3; The Literacy Coach's Handbook, Second Edition; and Organizing the Early Literacy Classroom. Dr. Walpole is also Series Editor, with Michael C. McKenna, of The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy. She is a recipient of the Early Career Award for Significant Contributions to Literacy Research and Education from the Literacy Research Association and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Delaware.

"District personnel, administrators, and coaches will benefit from McKenna and Walpole's overview of coaching models and from their recommendations regarding effective implementation. The book includes charts and templates that can be used by coaches in any setting as organizational tools for data gathering. Descriptions of a successful coach 'on the job' in a variety of grade levels provide a realistic view of the many decisions that coaches must make while they work to improve instruction in schools throughout the country." - Judy Mullins, fifth-grade teacher, Lone Oak Elementary School, Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA "Coaching and educational leadership go hand in hand, and this exemplary book highlights the various strategies for success in these areas. As an elementary school coach, I have had positive results with my teachers using the subject-specific coaching delineated by McKenna and Walpole. This book emphasizes a most powerful aspect of coaching: helping teachers reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. The coaching strategies presented here focus not only on the elementary grades but on middle and upper schools as well, making this a valuable resource for anyone working to bring about lasting, positive, systematic change in a school at any level." - Ginger Parris, EdS, literacy coach, Wrens Elementary School, Wrens, Georgia, USA "This book should be required reading for school administrators and literacy coaches. It describes multiple models of literacy coaching and provides helpful suggestions for creating a strong literacy program, including approaches to professional development, assessment, and classroom- and grade-level instruction. McKenna and Walpole provide rich examples of how these models can be implemented in our schools. They promote a shared leadership approach that empowers and involves many individuals within the learning community." - David W. Gaston, EdD, Principal, Berkeley Middle School, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA "This book would be extremely useful for instructing future literacy coaches in their job requirements and the execution of these responsibilities. Experienced coaches, principals, and administrators will also find valuable strategies for improving instructional programs. The use of assessment data to provide systematic professional development based on adult learning theories and coaching models makes this a 'must read' for anyone dealing with coaching." - Sandra D. Meyers, Education Associate, Reading, Delaware Department of Education, USA