This study describes and analyzes a field experience that has provided advanced literacy specialist candidates the context for advancing their understanding of professional leadership through the lens of a literacy coach. The field experience described was born out of the ongoing work of teacher educators at a small, independent, liberal arts…

This study investigates how the role of the reading specialist (RS) is defined and communicated by principals, and examines to what degree a common understanding of this role exists among teachers, building administrators and reading specialists. The principal's responsibility in defining and communicating role, and the effect these efforts have…

This article presents an interview with Janet W. Lerner, professor emerita of special education at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Lerner also serves as an adjunct professor in the Professional Assistant Center for Education (PACE) for Young Adults with Multiple Learning Disabilities at National Louis University and as…

Over the last 15 years, researchers have become increasingly interested in children's motivation to read. Because reading is an exigent activity that often involves choice, motivation is crucial to reading engagement. The purpose of this case study was to investigate student attitudes toward reading at summer reading clinic through an urban…

This article outlines five critical issues for teacher educators and literacy specialists in New York State. Intended to raise issues and share recent policy decisions, the article provides background and conversations about current policy. Readers are encouraged to make decisions about how to participate in the current conversations across the…

THE ROLE OF COMMITTEES DEVOTED TO THE IMPROVEMENT AND COORDINATION OF READING INSTRUCTION IS BEING DEFINED AS READING COMMITTEES ARE CREATED IN MANY SCHOOLS. AMONG THE FUNCTIONS OF A READING COMMITTEE ARE THE FOLLOWING--(1) TO EMPHASIZE THE WHOLE-SCHOOL NATURE OF THE READING PROGRAM, (2) TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF READING PERSONNEL, (3) 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…

A survey of 573 elementary school and secondary school New York teachers, including teachers of gifted and learning-disabled students, indicates that teaching the gifted is related to job satisfaction, whereas working with learning-disabled students is related to decreased job satisfaction, especially for teachers without special training. (SLD)