The Common Core Coaching Book Strategies to Help Teachers Address the K-5 ELA Standards

This book provides essential coaching tools to support teachers in planning and implementing instruction aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The authors explain the key instructional shifts brought about by the CCSS in K-5 English language arts classrooms. Eighteen specific strategies for coaching large groups, small groups, and individual teachers are presented, including clear-cut procedures, vivid illustrative examples, and 28 reproducible forms. Grounded in research on adult learning, the book addresses common coaching challenges and how to overcome them. The large-size format facilitates photocopying; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Laurie Elish-Piper, PhD, is Distinguished Teaching Professor, Presidential Engagement Professor, and Director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University (NIU), where she teaches graduate courses related to literacy coaching and leadership. Dr. Elish-Piper also serves as Deputy Provost for NIU. Formerly she worked as an elementary teacher, a middle school reading teacher, and an educational therapist in a clinical setting. Her research and teaching focus on literacy leadership and coaching, and she works extensively with school districts to develop and implement literacy coaching programs at the elementary and middle school levels. Dr. Elish-Piper is coauthor of seven previous books and has presented and published widely on literacy coaching, including in The Reading Teacher and Elementary School Journal.

Susan K. L'Allier, EdD, is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Reading Program in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. Prior to joining the university faculty, Dr. L'Allier worked as an elementary teacher, a lead teacher, and a principal. She has conducted multiple research studies with Laurie Elish-Piper to examine the relationship between literacy coaching and student literacy achievement. Their work has appeared in journal articles, book chapters, and presentations, as well as in The Literacy Coaching Series, a video "workshop in a box" that enables viewers to see and analyze interactions between literacy coaches and teachers.

I. Coaching toward the Common Core
1. Getting Ready for Coaching
2. Tools for Effective Coaching
II. Large-Group Coaching toward the Common Core
Strategy 1. Establishing a Climate for Literacy Coaching
Strategy 2. Building Shared Understanding and Language
Strategy 3. Conducting an Article Study Group
Strategy 4. Providing Professional Development at Faculty Meetings
Strategy 5. Unpacking the Common Core Standards
Strategy 6. Examining the Vertical Alignment of the Standards
Strategy 7. Presenting Powerful Professional Development
III. Small-Group Coaching toward the Common Core
Strategy 8. Developing Implementation Guides for the Common Core Standards
Strategy 9. Reviewing Assessment Data to Plan Instruction
Strategy 10. Examining Student Work
Strategy 11. Reviewing Units of Study
Strategy 12. Conducting a Lesson Study
IV. Individual Coaching toward the Common Core
Strategy 13. Setting Goals
Strategy 14. Modeling
Strategy 15. Co-Planning
Strategy 16. Co-Teaching
Strategy 17. Observing
Strategy 18. Implementing the Coaching Cycle
V. Putting It All Together: Profiles of Highly Effective Literacy Coaches
Profile 1. Establishing and Maintaining Administrator Support
Profile 2. Getting into Classrooms
Profile 3. Working with Hesitant Teachers
Profile 4. Staying the Course
Profile 5. Embedding Coaching into Other Assigned Duties
Profile 6. Organizing for Success
Final Thoughts