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Literacy Coaching


I have been a Middle Years educator in some shape or form (Classroom, Student Services, Specialty Areas) for the past decade. This school year has marked a huge professional shift for me; I have two new roles:

  • Divisional K-12 Literacy Coach

  • Elementary RTI Support Teacher

You may be asking yourself what does a literacy coach do? How do literacy coaches support students and teachers?

These were some of the questions I was also asking myself over the summer while reading Differentiated Literacy Coaching by Mary Catherine Moran.


So, what does a literacy coach do?

According to Moran, a literacy coach provides PD for teachers implementing instructional programs and practices, demonstrates leadership in literacy programming and focuses on long-term professional development. A literacy coach needs to be proactive and have experience working with adult learners.


Moran has organized the potential roles of a literacy coach as a continuum of eight practices that increase in intensity. As the intensity increases, so does the need for both the coach and teacher to be reflective about their literacy practices. I've included a snapshot that I created to briefly outline each of the eight literacy coaching practices:

Okay, I see how a literacy coach may support teachers, but what does that mean for student learning?


A meta-analysis of 60 different studies which focused on the impact of coaching on teacher practice and student achievement found that coaching had a medium effect size of 0.49. Coaching was shown to have a positive impact on student reading performance and a significant impact on school improvement. When coaching was combined with other professional learning strategies (like group learning), the impact on teacher growth in instruction and assessment practices increased even more. I am basing the group learning that I have started conducting on Peter DeWitt's Coaching Cycles of Inquiry; engaging in my own coaching inquiry as I facilitate instructional-focused group inquiry with small groups of teachers.


As well, John Hattie noted some of the elements of literacy coaching in his meta-analysis of the effect sizes of different school programs:

  • Co-/Team Teaching: 0.19

  • Professional Development: 0.51

  • Teaching Strategies: 0.62

My understanding of the coaching role will continue to develop and evolve over time, as I build coaching relationships and become more confident in my role supporting teachers. I hope this blog will help me track the evolution of my coaching practice and literacy content knowledge over time, and provide me with a place to record and reflect on this journey.



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