Keywords

Literacy Coaching, Literacy Leadership, Secondary Reading, High School Literacy, Reading Achievement

Abstract

The goal of this research was to understand the work lives of literacy coaches in central Florida by studying who they were, what they did, and what they believed influenced student achievement. In addition, it was important to understand the perceptions of literacy coaches as to what factors influenced positive changes in student achievement. Of 27 central Florida literacy coaches, this study examined the academic and professional background of each coach, explored the time spent on ten key literacy coaching activities, and analyzed work factors related to student achievement in reading on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Although the literacy coaching role was one that was expanding in the United States through state funding initiatives, much about the role and its effectiveness were not known through the literature. A web-based survey system and purposive interviews were used to gather important data relevant to providing understandings about literacy coaches. Exploratory regression analyses using coaching activities and school performance measures were run to determine the existence of relationships. Qualitative analysis was employed to develop literacy coaching themes from survey responses, and all data were triangulated and used to develop case studies. Case studies provided narrative descriptions of all data in the context of individual schools and their coaches all embedded within case types as identified by prior year school letter grade. The results of the study showed an overwhelming amount of time was spent on other activities not related to literacy coaching. Assisting with test preparation was one reason for other activity assignment. Modeling of literacy strategies was reported as one of the more useful and influential activities, but few of the coaches in the study organized their time for this. Case studies provided rich context into the work lives of literacy coaches. Suggested uses for the study included the development of stronger professional development programs for school administrators in working with high school literacy coaches. Although literacy coaches were a well-trained group, more specific training is needed in the re-allocation of time so that more influential activities are pursued.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2007

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Taylor, Rosemarye

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Research, Technology, and Leadership

Degree Program

Educational Leadership

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0001525

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001525

Language

English

Release Date

May 2007

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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