Teachers' and Principals' Perspectives of Literacy Coaching in an Elementary School.

<p>The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the literacy coach's tasks and qualities teachers valued the most and which qualities they valued the least. Knowing those precepts might help one to become a more efficient and valuable resource for both classroom teachers and principals. School visits, focus group interviews, individual interviews, interviews with each principal, and documents from the 3 southwest Virginia schools in 2 districts provided the data for analysis. Teachers' and principals' perspectives of literacy coaching explained both the desirable and undesirable practices and techniques.</p><p>The 3 schools had been swept into a change process when they received <em>Virginia Reading First</em> funding. They were required to use only scientifically based reading researched programs and strategies. Teachers were required to use new programs, change their instructional practices, use data to drive instruction, restructure their schedules, and rearrange their classrooms. They were required to participate in more staff development and training opportunities. They learned to look at student data and use them to drive their instruction to meet the specific needs of certain students. They learned to use data to assess their own professional strengths and weaknesses and then take action to improve it. The need for change and an effective change agent emerged as teachers needed to match their skills to the increased demands. Research data inspired the recommendations for becoming an effective literacy coach.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Hull, Barbara Jane Anderson

• literacy coach
• reading coach
• reading
• literacy
• Education
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1254

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-2445