Because equitable literacy practices provide students with access and opportunity, it is essential to build strong and supportive communities for literacy educators. At the center of these communities are literacy coaches who work extensively to cultivate trusting relationships to disrupt the status quo, thereby improving literacy instruction and student success. Literacy coaches build coaching structures and learning cultures that equitably expand educators’ knowledge, skills, and capacity to increase student literacy within and beyond classrooms. This article examines Years One through Three of the Wayne County COSA (Coach on Special Assignment) Initiative. It explores the value of building and sustaining an inclusive coaching community with ongoing support from an interdisciplinary ISD/RESA (Intermediate School District/Regional Educational Service Agency) team and the promising impact data that reveals the success of this model.
Author Bio
Ms. Heather Rottermond is an Assessment & Instruction Consultant at Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency. She provides leadership and support to schools and districts around educator data literacy, the effective use of the formative assessment process, data collection and the analysis of multiple measures for systemic improvement. She can be reached atrotterh@resa.net.
Ms. Colleen Whalen is a Literacy Consultant at Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency. Her practice centers around supporting teachers and literacy leaders in the strategic planning and use of effective, evidence-based early literacy instructional practices, literacy coaching supports, and organizational practices to systematically impact learning. She can be reached at whalenc@resa.net.
Dr. Laura Gabrion is a Literacy Consultant at Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency. She is interested in disciplinary literacy pedagogy, writing self-efficacy research and application, and integrating technology to enhance instruction. She can be reached at gabriol@ resa.net.
Dr. Joseph L. Musial is an Assessment and Evaluation Consultant at Wayne RESA where he provides program evaluation, statistical and survey methodology support. He is also the vice president of the Michigan Educational Research Association and is a Teaching Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus. He can be reached at musialj@resa.net.
Recommended Citation
Rottermond, Heather; Whalen, Colleen; Gabrion, Laura; and Musial, Joseph L.
(2024)
"Nurturing a Community of Literacy Coaches: A Comprehensive Approach to Improved Literacy Instruction,"
Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 57:
Iss.
1, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol57/iss1/7
