SECRETARIA DEL TRABAJO Y PREVISION SOCIAL
Punto 5.11 inciso c) Dice:
Chapter Overview
How does an Instructional Coach support elementary teachers who have students
struggling to read with characteristics similar to dyslexia? This is the question I strove to
research to be able to coordinate and create high quality literacy professional development training that would serve to enhance the effective practices of teachers to be able to close the opportunity and achievement gap for students in being able to read. Any implications and or limitations of the project will be discussed as well as opportunities for future research projects. Finally, results of the project as well as how the project potentially will be used to benefit the profession.
Reflection
In reflecting on the capstone project process as a whole, I am grateful for the experience despite all the challenges and difficulties. Perseverance wins the day. The writing component was by far the most difficult as it takes me so long to compose a paragraph with clear and salient information. The overall amount of time required to complete everything was substantial and took away quite a bit of valuable family time. In general it would have been better for me had it been in person and not required to be online only.
The literature review and research from chapter 2 really impacted decisions I made and drove the project. I used the adult learning theory and tried to pay attention to what the needs of the teachers were on a daily basis and then would read over the exit tickets to change or add to
what was taught on the following day. Furthermore, the research helped make the decision to ensure the training was interactive, engaging and collaborative. Had I not done the research I do not know if I would have paid as much attention to these details. And I think the training was made more interesting or more impactful because I knew what the research had said.
In reflecting on the research component it helped answer some of the burning questions I had, while quite unexpectedly offering answers to questions I did not even know I had. I would find myself completely engrossed in the research. In the past year as an Instructional Coach there were many meetings that contained new concepts and ideas about teaching and learning that I was not familiar with such as the gradual release of responsibility method (Fisher & Frey, 2013) or distinguishing between professional learning and professional development (Scherff, 2018). In conducting research for the project, I again, unexpectedly came across many of these same sources but being able to read them in their entirety gave me more clarity, knowledge,
confidence and solidified my passion and direction in ultimately helping struggling students by supporting their teachers. As a learner, I could have kept on going because one source led to another and it became difficult to know when or where to stop. As an educator I needed to know information such as the difference between balanced literacy and structured literacy
(Lorimor-Easley & Reed, 2019). In working with the rubrics and design outcomes of the
capstone project it forced me to do the work, dig deeper and understand more fully so I am better able to lead and support teachers and students (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017).
Implications/Limitations
The overall possible implications for the project is student growth in literacy and being able to read at grade level. During these challenging times of starting the school year in a hybrid
learning environment, it is critical to be able to provide teachers with clarity of purpose with the literacy professional development training. In addition to fulfilling our building commitment of literacy professional development for grades 2-5 the future goal would be to provide this professional development training district wide and beyond.
The limitations of the project is that it is currently only being offered at one elementary school and could be cost prohibitive to others. The ever changing landscape to the beginning of the school year has caused this professional development training to be a very fluid process as I try to be receptive to both teachers and students needs while trying to provide the best possible outcomes. Another limitation is in literacy there are so many directions and avenues one can take that at times it is difficult to know what to choose or which of the latest research to follow when presented with so many choices. Another possibility is that you can offer the training but
teachers have free will and they may choose to not attend and or not use any of the new information and resources.
Future Research
Moving forward with future research projects, I could continue with some aspects of literacy, based on information received from coaching cycles and teacher feedback along with results from student data to see where we might want to focus next. I did spend quite a bit of time in early literacy with kindergarten and 1st grade using the Heggerty (Heggerty & Vanhekken, 2020) program and book versus later elementary grades 3rd, 4th, 5th and would want to learn more about the Kilpatrick (2018) program and book. In addition, it may be beneficial to switch to another subject area altogether again based on students needs, data, teacher feedback and district initiatives.
Now that I am re-connected to how research is conducted the options really seem endless as to what I might want to learn more about. One thought is after taking a cognitive coaching course I would like to research more on teams and collaboration as our instructor authored a book Transforming Teamwork (Zimmerman et al., 2020) and I could start at least there. I also have several other books I have not read yet on coaching, one with the focus on building the relationship between Principals and Instructional Coaches (Sweeney & Mausbach, 2018) which could be the beginning of more research or perhaps a book study with my Principal. Overall I am most fascinated by dyslexia and will continue to read and research more about it. I think there is much work to be done to help students who struggle with so many aspects of school in which dyslexia is the culprit.
Results/Benefit
The professional development training is the catalyst in opening up doors to allow me the opportunity as an Instructional Coach to facilitate coaching cycles where I will partner with teachers weekly in grade level team meetings and additionally if they request on an individual basis. From the training, teachers will have more knowledge and together we will be better able to decipher student data as related to the state standards and grade level benchmarks. Together coach and teacher will know what to look for in developing formative assessments that lead to highly effective practices of instruction in gaining student results.
The capstone project of professional development is benefitting over 30 teachers in our building alone as it increases teacher knowledge and effectiveness with the end result of
increased student equity, growth and achievement. The broader goal of bringing this training to 8 other elementary schools in our district equates to over 200 more teachers.
Summary
In reflecting on the capstone process it is positive in nature and important to embark on a project of this magnitude probably more often than not. Being able to dive deeper into the research was so satisfying and enlightening with the added benefit of being able to understand what my job title actually entailed. The greatest implication is the far reaching ability of the capstone project of literacy professional development training because in our district alone this equates to thousands of students. At this point the limitations seem to be minimal and the implications far out way any potential limitation. Future research is very exciting and could continue on with literacy and or venture into other elementary subject areas as well. The idea of researching more on cognitive coaching and student-centered coaching to help facilitate the results component in the coaching cycles will be beneficial to all.
In the end, we are talking about equity, literacy and the ability to read at grade level as one of the biggest opportunity and achievement gaps that students face today. All students have the right to high quality core literacy instruction. As Districts, Principals, and Instructional Coaches, we all need to ensure teachers are qualified, knowledgeable, and able to provide high quality literacy instruction so that every child who leaves elementary school is able to read.
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