How Does Literacy Coaching Effect First Year Teachers in Reading and Writing?

1. How Does Literacy Coaching Effect First Year Teachers in Reading and Writing? An Action Research Project Courtney Johnson Legend Elementary

2. What is Action Research? • Action research is a model of professional development that promotes collaborative inquiry, reflection, and dialogue. • “Within the action research process, educators study student learning related to their own teaching. It is a process that allows educators to learn about their own instructional practices and to continue to monitor improved student learning.” (Rawlinson & Little, 2004) • “The idea of action research is that educational problems and issues are best identified and investigated where the action is: at the classroom and school level. By integrating research into these settings and engaging those who work at this level in research activities, findings can be applied immediately and problems solved more quickly.” (Guskey, 2000) • Therefore action research is a continuous and reflective process where educators make instructional decisions in their classrooms based on student needs reflected by classroom data.

3. 3 Types of Action Research

5. Action Research Provides… • Implementation of data-based instructional decision-making through classroom action research • The basis of the school improvement plan is student data • The quality of goals, strategies, and objectives of the school’s vision and school improvement plan is measured by achievement of those goals, strategies, and objectives by all of the students in the school. • Achieving those goals is directly related to the high quality implementation of research-based instructional practices, methods, and strategies by each individual teacher in the school.

6. How Does Literacy Coaching Effect First Year Teachers in Reading and Writing? • Using the Literacy Collaborative Framework from Fountas and Pinnell and the research behind coaching • Timeline of Professional development • Modeling and Team teaching with first year teachers • Looking at both the qualitative data from the first year teachers • Looking at the quantitative data from the student’s achievement in reading and writing • Reflection and refinement in my coaching with teachers

7. What does the research say about the effects of coaching?

9. Literacy Coaching • Focus on improving the quality of instruction that we provide to ALL students! • We help bridge teacher's visions of evidence-based practice and what teachers DO every day in the classroom • Provide ongoing professional development • Principal's support building that relationship • Survey at the beginning of the school year • Curriculum director and District Literacy Coordinator's support • OSU trainers, Blogs, and websites for support

11. Types of Coaching • Modeling • Team teaching • Peer coaching • Team planning • Group coaching • Differentiated professional development • Formal coaching • Coaching Rounds

13. Coaching is Collaborating! • Working in classrooms is all about building relationships and establishing trust over time. • “Coaches need to maintain teacher’s trust while having good communication with the supervisor” Lyons and Pinnell 2001 • Jennifer Allen’s book Literacy Leader says… “What is it that you want to explore together.” p. 95

14. Coaching is a Conversation Coaching is a conversation directed toward inquiry: the reading coach and teacher are making hypotheses and searching for information. Their greatest source of data are their observations of children as they look for evidence of learning. The purpose of coaching conversations is to use teacher's own thinking - what they want to accomplish - as a springboard to reveal how to change their behavior.Lyons and Pinnell, 2001

15. Real-Life Coaching • Teachers often times need to be pushed out of their comfort zones • The key is that the pressure/support comes from a respected, trusted individual. • Someone who truly has your best interest at heart. • Someone who will do everything possible to help you succeed.

16. Coaching Needs of a First Year Teacher Room set-up with nooks Organize classroom library Reading and Writing lesson plans Model language for mini-lessons Anchor charts and placement Setting up a writing center Creating a reading and writing portfolio Setting up guided reading groups Writing conference space and notes Lesson planning for guided reading Running records Grading writing with the rubrics Interactive Read-Aloud • Analyzing literacy data • RTI probes and interventions • School culture • Classroom management • Grading using writing rubrics • Poetry workshop • Help writing SLO’s • Grade card comments • Model the genre of testing • Word study stations and mini-lessons • Lists of resources • Model Book Clubs • Reading prompts and strategic actions

17. Professional Development Timeline • August 13, 2013 Introduction to Literacy Collaborative • August 19, 2013 Scheduling and planning the first 20 days of literacy • September 5, 2013 Training in Literacy Benchmark Assessments • September 25, 2013 Full day of PD for Writing Workshop • October 23, 2013 Full day of PD for Guided Reading • November 20, 2013 Full day of PD for Word Study, Book Clubs, Poetry • Utilized Fridays 80 minute double block planning for literacy plans

18. Example of an agenda from a PD session

25. Coaching with First Year 5th grade teachers August: 8 days September: 17 days October: 17 days November: 10 days December: 11 days January: Friday Planning only February: Friday Planning only March: Friday Planning only April: 5 days test prep

26. ClassroomObservations

27. Text Level Data Morgan Reimer

28. Writing Scores Morgan Reimer

29. Word Study Levels Morgan Reimer

30. Universal Screener Results Morgan Reimer

31. Results: • The results indicate that all students were able to increase their level of reading using the Benchmark Assessment System • All students were able to increase their fluency scores on the Universal screener measure • Both teachers noted that they were more knowledgeable in all areas of the literacy collaborative framework • A trusting and supportive relationship was built among coach and teachers • Translation from theory to actual practice occurred in both classrooms

32. Implications for next years coaching • Continue with ongoing professional development with all teachers • Both whole staff and small group PD session with demonstrations of strategies and techniques • Use individual teacher goal sheets to drive personal growth for each teacher • Continue to purchase and organize resources for writing mentor texts • Specifically coaching guided reading and the teacher language • Continue research in the area of teacher’s beliefs about literacy and actual practice in the classroom • Encourage other teachers and grade levels to collaborative in the area of action research with literacy collaborative