What Is the Purpose of a Reading Coach?

Reading coaches establish a good rapport with reading teachers.

In order to improve student literacy, some schools employ reading coaches in addition to teachers. Reading coaches are flexible, and work with many different classrooms and grade levels. They typically work behind the scenes to improve the school's literacy curricula.

Collaboration

Reading coaches work collaboratively with teachers to enhance lesson plans and boost the reading skills of students. Coaches typically work most closely with reading teachers, by researching best practices and responding to teachers' questions and concerns. Teachers often respond well to coaching, and feel more confident in their own abilities, awareness and goals.

Instructional Strategy

Reading coaches lead by example.

Reading coaches often demonstrate new instructional strategies, so that teachers will have more resources and techniques in the classroom. Depending on the needs of each school, coaches can work with large groups of teachers or provide individualized, one-on-one instruction. Coaches keep up with current research and theories regarding literacy instruction.

Evaluation

Reading coaches are professionally trained to analyze the literacy skills of students. In addition to helping teachers improve curricula and techniques, coaches also evaluate the success of these changes. They help teachers score tests, analyze reading test results, and instruct teachers in new ways to observe and assess literacy levels.

References

• Educational Research: Working on a Job Description for a Literacy Coach?
• RAND: Florida's Middle School Reading Coaches -What Do They Do? Are They Effective?