The reading specialist's
responsibilities and role has changed over the years for a variety of
reasons. In the late 1960's, schools were receiving a great deal of
funding for education, yet many children were not becoming proficient
readers. Schools began using Title I funds to hire specially trained
teachers to help students experiencing reading difficulties. These
teachers fulfilled the roles as described by Robinson and Rauch of resource
person, advisor, in-service leader, investigator, diagnostician, evaluator, and
instructor (as cited in Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p. 30). Quatroche, Bean, and Hamilton concluded that
it is “critical that professionals with extensive knowledge of reading
instruction be part of every classroom where there are students who need help
learning to read (as cited in Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p. 31). As the start of the twenty-first century,
reading specialists were in higher demand due in part on account of No Child
Left Behind legislation and the Reading First Initiative (Vogt & Shearer,
2011).
District-level reading specialists
supervise the work of school-site reading specialists and literacy
coaches. They report to the curriculum
or reading director, assistant superintendent, or superintendent. School-site literacy coaches (traditional
reading specialist model) primary responsibility is to instruct students who
need additional literacy support. They
may spend little time coaching, modeling, and co-teaching. They report to the building principal. School-site literacy coaches (traditional
team model) work with a team of reading professionals, paraprofessionals, and
support personnel. The literacy coaching
model for reading coaches support teachers in helping them to meet their goals
for improved student achievement (Vogt & Shearer, 2011).
Reading coaches and other reading
specialists should be highly qualified.
The Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse (LCC) lists four qualifications for
reading specialists including a valid teaching certificate, previous teaching
experience, a graduate degree with a concentration in reading education, and
considerable coursework in reading education including a supervised practicum
working essentially as a literacy coach.
Additional qualities that are essential include being highly knowledgeable
and continuing to enhance professional expertise (pre-k -12), being affiliated
with a national or international literacy-related organization (e.g., IRA,
NCTE), being an excellent listener, being a good team player, respecting
confidentiality, understanding the demands of increasingly complex genres, and being
knowledgeable about and able to implement the latest best practices for supporting
English language learners (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). I have known some reading specialists and
coaches who were put through a rigorous training program through their school
district to help them further their expertise if they were hired without a master’s
degree in reading education. It would be
interesting to find out what the “norm” is concerning teachers hired as reading
specialists of some sort or put into a position of a reading specialist who did
not come into the position being “highly qualified.”
Roles and responsibilities of
literacy coaches include providing professional development for teachers,
taking on leadership for the school’s literacy program, and assuming a team
perspective (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). Collaboration is vitally important. The following is a fun and short video of three commercials that emphasize the importance of collaboration and team work:
Reading coaches and specialists take
on a multitude of responsibilities and roles that change over time. One thing that stands out for me is the need
for them to be flexible as their roles and responsibilities may very well
change and evolve as our education system changes and adapts. I have had the privilege of working with a
few wonderful reading coaches while teaching.
They were helpful and supportive of what I was already doing, provided
some direction in order to further my knowledge (e.g., providing me with
reading material on subjects I was wanting or needing to learn more about,
telling me about workshops that may be helpful), and were easy to work with
(good people skills).
References
Vogt, M., & Shearer, B. (2011). Reading specialists and reading coaches in
the real world.
Boston,
MA: Pearson.
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