Synthesize and Assimilate

For my creative synthesis project, my question specifically looks at how teachers are
effectively implementing engaging literacy tasks to promote student independence in the
elementary classroom setting. This week, we read chapter 17 by authors Woulfin and Coburn (In
Bean & Dagen, 2012) on policy implementation and the role literacy leaders take in this process.
This chapter specifically made me reflect on how my previous literacy coach addressed changes
in literacy policies and how she was able to support staff in its implementation. I specifically
think that in order for students to be successful during independent literacy activities, teachers
need to be able to effectively implement new reading curriculum and policies with fidelity. This
means not taking worksheets that you think previously worked in combination with parts of new
curriculum, such as the case studies mentioned in this chapter. But how do we effectively
implement these new policies and curriculum, without the support of literacy specialists and
leaders in our school? Woulfin and Oburn (In Bean & Dagen, 2012) mentioned four specific
suggestions that I think are important for me to consider in my future positions as a literacy
leader and are those that I saw as evident with my past literacy coaches. The table below
mentions these cited suggestions from research on reading policy.

1. “First, it suggests that school literacy 2. “Secondly, research on policy

leaders should receive substantive implementation reminds us of the
professional development associated importance of aligning reform
with changes in instructional policy” initiatives” (p.152).
(p.152).

3. “This research also suggests that
before introducing a new reading
policy, literacy leaders should evaluate
and reflect on teachers’ preexisting
beliefs and practices” (p.152).
4. “Finally, this review of the research
suggests that literacy leaders may gain
leverage by using teachers’ formal and
informal interaction with their
colleagues as a resource to promote
teacher’ understanding of a policy”
(p.153).

When implementing any new reading policy or curriculum, my literacy coach provided
school-wide or team-based professional development on her completed training(s) by the district.
As a school, we knew that when new reading policies were being introduced to the staff that our
administrative and literacy coach teams had been formally instructed on the new policies. To
me, this made me feel confident that I could ask questions about implementation, and even if
they did not know the answer- they would find an answer from a district trainer or professional.
When Wake County officially adopted the EL curriculum in 2017 for the following school year,
our school’s literacy coach and administrative team helped to create a clear understanding of the
purpose behind this new reform initiative. Our team was specifically having difficulty with
attending to the new curriculum methods and demands for student independence, but we
consistently reached out to our literacy coach for guidance on the matter. Woulfin and Coburn
(In Bean & Dagen, 2012) state that “when teachers are given opportunities to collectively
interpret a new reading policy, it helps demystify the policy so it can be enacted in classrooms”
(p.351). Our literacy coach also came to have these informal conversations about our
celebrations and questions with the curriculum and new reading policies being addressed. During
one of these conversations, we had mentioned that students were unable to complete some of the
ALL-block assignments but how important we knew these were in order to master more of the
whole-group module lesson material. With this knowledge, she helped prepare resources,
provide district support meetings with personnel, and came to model stations with students. This
made such a difference in helping us meet our students’ needs, while also tailoring to our needs
in order to understand the bigger academic picture.

References:

Coburn, C.E., & Woulfin, S.L. (2012). Policy implementation: The path from reading
policy to classroom policy. In R. M. Bean & A. S. Dagen (Eds.), Best practices of
literacy leaders: Keys to school improvement (pp.337-354). New York, NY: Guilford
Press.