Evaluating reading coach quality 
 

This study from the RAND Corporation examines what makes for good reading coaches and coaching. A total of 113 schools from 8 districts in Florida were included in the study. All used reading coaches to work with school staff to improve their teaching of reading and leadership skills. At each school, the principal, all reading coaches, and 10 teachers were surveyed. They felt that there were some common characteristics of coach quality, including coach knowledge of reading instruction, experience working in similar contexts, and official certification/preparation. However, the data showed no relationship between teacher and principal perceptions of coach quality and students' reading achievement. The researchers suggest that being an effective literacy coach may require more than content-area expertise and teaching experience. They identify "understanding how to support adult learners" as a key area of expertise that was sometimes lacking with the coaches in the study, and note that the skill set required to successfully teach adults (in this case, teachers) is not the same as that required to teach children.