Reading, writing coaches proposed

Gov. Mike Easley says literacy coaches would help teachers improve middle-schoolers' skills

Gov. Mike Easley has pushed for pre-kindergarten classes, smaller classes in elementary grades and more effective high schools.

Now, he wants to do something about middle schools.

Easley told legislators at an education conference Thursday that his budget plan for next year will include literacy coaches to help middle-grade teachers strengthen the reading and writing skills of their students.

Middle schools have struggled to boost reading performance. A key national reading exam showed a decline last year in the performance of eighth-graders in North Carolina.

"There's enough of a drop in performance for us to pay attention to," Easley said. "When we talk about high school reform, we have to make sure that kids are ready to learn when they get there."

Initially, 100 schools with middle grades (sixth through eighth) -- or about a third of the state's middle schools -- would get the coaches for a trial effort. The first year's cost for those 100 schools would be about $5 million, Easley said. The State Board of Education already had requested $4.1 million to hire reading coaches next year for low-scoring middle and high schools.

The 100 schools will probably be chosen on the basis of academic need.

The coaches would be trained to help teachers with reading instruction, an area in which many secondary teachers have little background or training.

Educators have realized that students often need to strengthen their reading skills, particularly in comprehension, even after they advance from elementary school, said Jackie Colbert, director of elementary education for the state Department of Public Instruction.

"The issue is helping teachers in middle and high schools who have not been trained in reading," Colbert said. "The idea is to help them include reading skills in every content area."

David Ansbacher, principal of East Millbrook Middle School in North Raleigh, said Wake County's middle schools have tried to promote reading instruction across all subject areas, but having a coach on staff could only make those efforts more effective.

"It makes a great deal of sense," he said. "We talk a lot about everyone teaching reading, but they don't always feel well-qualified to do that."

A former high school English teacher, Ansbacher said that he was never trained to teach reading skills.

"We need to face the fact that we have a large number of kids whose skills aren't where they need to be," he said. "Where we get frustrated is we don't have enough people in this building who can teach reading."

The state is already using a similar coaching approach in elementary schools under the federal Reading First grant. A coach in each school works directly with classroom teachers to help them develop their reading instruction. The middle school program would borrow from that model.

A similar approach is under way in about three dozen of Wake's elementary schools, each of which has a literacy coach.

Ruth Steidinger, director of literacy for Wake schools, said a similar position in middle schools could help struggling readers as well as those who are already competent.

"Kids and teachers would benefit," Steidinger said. "Teachers are craving opportunities to help kids be more successful. They need more readily accessible support, and that's what a coach can provide."