The International Reading Association (2003) has recently established new guidelines for graduate students enrolled in reading and literacy programs. These guidelines require graduate students to maintain direct contact with students during their coursework for advanced degrees. Field experiences support best practices in bridging the gap between…

Following a nationwide trend, reading scores at Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School in suburban Chicago began dropping with the entrance of the new millennium. However, through its newly created Reading Department, Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School is providing comprehensive, direct reading instruction throughout grade and skill…

This article reports on the results of a survey examining the perceptions of university faculty regarding the importance of graduate programs preparing reading specialists for a leadership role. The results of the survey indicate that slightly more that half of the programs require a leadership course and less than half of the reading specialist…

Discusses the uses of surveys, notes the types of survey instruments available, and provides examples of survey instruments to assess teacher competencies and student reading behavior. Suggests that surveys are especially useful for providing information for two sections of grant applications: the needs assessment and comprehensive planning…

Describes a resource teacher's efforts to implement a program to improve reading at the secondary level in a Florida school. Offers activities used in the program. (FL)

Examines issues related to organizing the teaching of reading in secondary schools, such as the lack of liaison between elementary and secondary schools and the confinement of reading instruction to only English or remedial classes. Suggests that secondary school faculty cooperate in using all available resources to produce literate adults. (AEA)

Suggests that secondary school reading specialists desiring to establish a school-based, schoolwide reading program form a reading committee composed of content area teachers who propose ideas and help implement them. (MKM)

The purpose of this case study is to describe the challenges one coach faced during the initial implementation of a coaching initiative involving 33 teachers in an urban, high-poverty elementary school. Reading coaches are increasingly expected to play a key role in the professional development efforts to improve reading instruction in order to…

Literacy coaching is a very hot topic (Cassidy & Cassidy, 2007) that has been spurred on by two opposite belief systems. On one hand, the Reading First schools can receive federal funding to hire coaches to raise test scores. This has led some teachers to characterize coaches as "test-prep enforcers." On the other hand, Bean, Swan…