Rush to research literacy coaching

Leslie Rush

   Secondary education faculty member Leslie Rush has received significant support from the International Reading Association (IRA) to explore the ways in which instructional facilitators impact teachers' efforts to infuse literacy instruction into their lessons.
   Rush's two-year study, "Literacy Coaching in Wyoming's Secondary Schools: A Situated Perspective," is funded by the IRA's Elva Knight Research Grant.
   "There has been a lot of interest in literacy coaching, but not very much research on literacy coaching in secondary schools," she says.
   The Wyoming Legislature funded instructional facilitator positions in the state's school districts in 2006, providing curriculum coaches to K-12 educators. Rush's research extends a growing pool of knowledge regarding the impacts of these positions.
   "I'm focusing on the work and the impact of instructional facilitators in Wyoming who are working at the secondary level," Leslie says of this project, "particularly those who are focusing on literacy instruction."
   Leslie's research has two phases. In the first phase, scheduled for the 2009-10 academic year, she is exploring the roles  and responsibilities of instructional facilitators: what they do, how they negotiate their way into the job, their backgrounds, and the ways in which they navigate their place in school life.
   "They (instructional facilitators) occupy that middle space, between a teacher and administrator," Rush explains. "In some places, they are seen as more like an administrator; whereas in other places, they are seen as closer to teachers. I'm interested in hearing what they have to say about what they do, how they perceive their roles, etc."
   During phase one, Rush will interview approximately 50 instructional facilitators across Wyoming. In phase two, she will select five to 10 buildings for more detailed exploration. In that phase, the goal will be "really trying to get a sense of the community of that building and using a cultural perspective," she says. "What is the culture of that building, in terms of ability to collaborate and work with instructional facilitators." Methods incorporated during phase two will include teacher focus groups, interviews with building principals, and content analysis of artifacts.
   The roots of Rush's interest in this particular topic extend back to her days as a high school English teacher and the growing national emphasis on secondary literacy. 
   "We've had a content-area literacy push since the early 1980s," Leslie says, "trying to get content area teachers English, social studies, science and math to incorporate literacy work within their instruction. There has been a good bit of resistance to that."
   The current research may unlock some answers regarding how to overcome this historic hesitation.
   "If the work of instructional facilitators is useful, if it's helpful at getting teachers to do that, that's something that I would be interested in finding out," she says. "I've always been puzzled about it. Why is it so hard to get it to happen? Many people would be interested in knowing what we can do to facilitate that."
   This is Rush's second opportunity to research the impacts of instructional facilitators on Wyoming schools. Leslie and educational leadership professor Suzie Young recently conducted a statewide evaluation of the program, focusing on overall satisfaction.


 

Posted on Tuesday, September 15, 2009