Implementing literacy coaching is a complex process that includes several areas for consideration. District and school-level administrators, coaches, and teachers may be unaware of what they can do to help ensure coaches are as effective as possible in their role. Presented in this infographic are four specific areas shown from the research to be important when planning for and implementing literacy coaching.

This infographic dissects some reading instructional practices to highlight whether or not they are aligned with the science of reading and determine if they have the green light to use with all learners. This infographic will help teachers build a repertoire of direct and systematic instructional practices that will allow our students to access text effectively and efficiently.

Panelists, including Dr. Jan Hasbrouck, discuss key features of structured literacy within K-6 literacy systems. They highlight the importance of teaching systematically and explicitly to improve student outcomes.

"The target audience for this guide is a broad spectrum of school practitioners such as administrators, curriculum specialists, coaches, staff development specialists and teachers who face the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English language learners in the elementary grades. The guide also aims to reach district-level administrators who develop practice and policy options for their schools" (IES, 2007).

This brief is designed to support practitioners, instructional coaches, and school leaders in designing and implementing procedures for choosing literacy assessments, analyzing data, setting criteria, and making decisions based on student data when implementing multitiered systems of support that accommodates English learners (ELs). Classroom teachers and EL interventionists will find this brief helpful for selecting measures, making group and individual decisions, and monitoring student progress across languages. This brief uses scientific evidence from research to share a framework for assessment and data-based decision-making to improve literacy instruction for ELs. This brief also addresses issues that school and district personnel frequently encounter when designing and implementing tiered instruction in schools that implement bilingual programs or that serve ELs in English as a second language programs.

Establishing a whole-school culture of data use helps all stakeholders make thoughtful, consistent, and appropriate data-based decisions. Schools can develop a data plan and team to guide the use of data and to support a culture of data use. The data team can develop a shared vocabulary for critical concepts of data use and learning.

Assessment for learning plays a critical role in informing and driving literacy instruction. A comprehensive assessment system allows educators to adjust instruction to meet the specific needs of students, which is critical for students in terms of both the prevention of reading difficulties and intervention to remediate skill gaps. Use the infographic to help understand how and when to use universal screeners, diagnostic assessments, progress monitoring, and outcome evaluation to guide the literacy instruction and intervention.

The literacy brief from the International Literacy Association summarizes key points from research that will help teachers explain phonics to noneducators. The brief includes information about phonics for emerging
readers, phonological awareness, the layers of writing, word study instruction, approaches to teaching phonics, and teaching English learners. The references include research that supports the ideas presented and phonics resources that you can use and share with others.

The science of reading has established that explicit instruction is associated with beneficial outcomes for students and may be the secret sauce of instructional success. In this article, Vaughn and Fletcher examine and explain the five key components of effective explicit instruction. They include: segmenting complex skills into manageable tasks; modeling or thinking aloud to address the important features of the content; promoting successful engagement using faded supports and prompts; providing feedback, and creating purposeful practice opportunities.

The Science of Reading has identified features of effective instruction that work in combination and are the basis of high-quality reading instruction for all students. This PDF provides an overview and characteristics of each feature of effective reading instruction, including a scope and sequence, systematic instruction, explicit, scaffolded, and differentiated instruction. These evidence-based features work together to form the essentials of reading success.

The article by Vaughn and Fletcher discusses how a supportive, integrated general and special education system can be implemented within a multi-tiered system of support. Six steps that teachers can implement in their classrooms to support students with reading difficulties or with mild to moderate disabilities or dyslexia are provided.

The National Reading Panel (2000) identified phonemic awareness as one of the pivotal pillars in teaching students to read. Over two decades have passed, and children still experience difficulty with learning to read. This is especially true for many African American students who are more likely not to reach proficiency on literacy measures. This article details key phonological features of African-American English and provides teachers with practical classroom applications for phonemic awareness instruction so all students can demonstrate success.

This video features an extended interview with Tim Shanahan, Ph.D., and includes descriptions of research-based recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse about how to teach literacy to young students.

The purpose of this document is to increase the capacity of practitioners and educational leaders to support a broad range of learners who need more literacy supports to become skilled readers and writers by identifying a set of essential practices that are research-supported and should be the focus of professional development throughout the state. These practices for intensifying literacy instruction apply to those learners with significant and persistent reading and writing challenges who have not responded when provided with instruction aligned with state academic standards, regardless of disability status.

Reading expert Linda Farrell works with Reese to master the name of every letter. She helps Reese sing the alphabet song clearly and with no mistakes. She teaches him to look carefully at letters as he names them. Ms. Farrell also helps Reese identify every letter of the alphabet accurately, including differentiating between letters that look similar (in Reese’s case, ‘y’ and ‘v’). Learning the name of every letter is a critical pre-reading skill.

This video from REL Midwest discusses the most effective evidence-based practices for identifying and assisting struggling readers.

The International Dyslexia Association Georgia and The Reading League Georgia partnered to host Dr. Anita Archer as a presenter in their Structured Literacy Webinar Series. Dr. Archer details the necessity of teaching practices aligned in the Science of Instruction. When implementation of the Science of Instruction is consistent and effectively implemented, particularly for instruction aligned with the Science of Reading, improved student outcomes result.

Teachers already know the importance of maximizing every minute of the literacy block. This webinar considers the benefits and costs of whole-group and small-group instruction and explores how data informs whether targeted interventions are needed in a whole-group or small-group setting. The webinar also examines scheduling options for maximizing the benefits of small-group instruction and provides practical comparisons of targeted small-group lessons versus generalized small-group lessons.

This journal article details the four phases that children move through on their way to becoming confident readers.

Watch Dr. Louisa Moats, reading expert and consultant, demonstrate activities for teaching segmentation and connecting sounds to letters.