Running Head: LITERACY ACTION PLAN 1

Literacy Action Plan

Sarah E. Roberts

University of New England

February, 2017
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Statement of Purpose:

The purpose of this plan is to provide the students of Cascade Brook School (CBS) with

an improved approach to how they will learn and demonstrate their learning in regard to literacy.

The school wide data indicates that fifty percent of students are at a medium to high risk in

regard to reading. By following through on this plan, teachers will have more readily available

resources related to literacy, better professional development, and a better understanding of the

assessments given to students. This will all result in better teaching practices that would directly

impact the students of CBS. According to Bean (2015), quality teaching is the single most

important variable contributing to student learning (p. 111). Therefore, the reason many of the

goals focus on professional development, is so that the teachers have the necessary training in

order to provide that quality teaching. Additionally, the plan focuses on ongoing professional

development. According to Gulamhussein (2013), some studies have concluded that teachers

may need as many as 50 hours of instruction, practice and coaching before a new teaching

strategy is mastered and implemented in class (p. 14). Therefore, the reason the plan focuses on

ongoing professional development is to ensure that teachers are receiving the training that they

need in order to be successful.

Literacy Vision Statement:

It is the vision of CBS that all students become readers both in the classroom and out.

These readers will be able to fluently read, understand, and respond to texts in a variety of ways.

The teachers of CBS strive to provide students with the tools needed for student success.

Action Goals across Content Area and Grade Levels:

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My first goal is to compile a variety of resources that include the best practice for literacy

strategies that can be integrated into a variety of content areas. I will organize these resources

into a Google Drive folder and share that with my colleagues.

According to Edwards, Neill and Fauss (2015), effective reading instruction shifts within

fourth grade from teaching students how to read, to teaching students to apply those reading

skills to learn other content. This shift can be very difficult, therefore the reason I have chosen

this goal is to provide students with more support in reading in all content areas as they go

through this transition. Although reading is often only addressed in reading class, it shouldnt be

limited in that way! According to Alandeom Oliveira (2015), reading has the potential to

provide students with rich and engaging science learning experiences (p. 431). This applies to

other content areas as well. Through activities such as read aloud, discussions, and role play,

students can move past silent decoding of texts towards a more active role in learning. By

working on reading in all content areas, students will not only have more support, but more

variation in the texts they are reading. This will help them as they transition from knowing how

to read, to applying those skills.

Upon speaking to the content area teachers in my school, I found that some of the

teachers of physical education, art, music, etc., felt that they did not have enough training to

effectively implement literacy strategies into their content area, or enough time to research these

literacy strategies. Therefore the reason I chose to compile resources, is to help give them the

support and means needed to integrate literacy into their content area. It is important for content

area teachers to realize that they are not expected to teach basic reading skills, but rather teach

the reading skills that are necessary for their content area (Heller, Greenleaf, 2007). The Google

Drive would be a resource to assist them as they teach the reading skills that apply to their
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content area.

My second goal is to find out and share how specifically the reading program aligns with

the science and social studies curriculum in grades three through five. I will do this by reviewing

the curriculum and comparing that to the lessons and topics taught in Journeys.

In my current setting literacy instruction is done primarily by classroom teachers. Prior to

this year, teachers integrated literacy into many of the content areas. School wide universal

screening data has revealed that this was not enough for the students. Recent data shows that in

the fall, 27% of students were categorized as high risk in reading, yet in the spring, 28% of

students were categorized as high risk. Therefore, the district implemented a core reading

program in an attempt to better literacy education for the students. However, in doing so,

teachers are struggling to find time to teach the content areas, let alone integrate literacy into

them. Therefore, the reason I chose this goal is to provide those teachers with information

regarding which topics are and are not covered by the reading program.

Currently in third grade, social studies is integrated into about twenty percent of the

reading program, and science is integrated into thirty-three percent. At the fourth grade level,

approximately twenty percent of the program integrates social studies and forty-three percent of

the program integrates science. Finally at the fifth grade level, forty percent of the program

integrates social studies and thirty percent integrates science. Since this is the first year of the

program, teachers are struggling to accomplish it all. By meeting this goal, teachers will have a

better understanding of how all of the pieces fit together. In having this understanding, teachers

should be able to teach without rushing through content in order to do it all.

My third goal is to design recurring professional development in the school that will go

beyond first exposure. I will provide teachers with actual examples of what effective literacy
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strategies look like in the classroom. I will measure the impact of this professional development

through test data and teacher surveys.

Effective professional development has many stages. School data indicates that teachers

often do not return to discussions of previous professional development topics in an organized

manner. Yet for the professional development to be effective, it has to be taught and discussed on

more than one occasion (National Council of Teachers of English, 2006). The reason I chose this

as a goal is so that teachers can receive this training on more than one occasion. This time should

provide teachers with more effective professional development sessions.

Action Plan Goals That Target Struggling Readers and Writers:

My first goal is to improve the comprehension instruction in my school. I will do this by

creating a video that shows how reciprocal teaching can be used by students from varying

socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental backgrounds. By showing teachers this video, I hope

to give them a realistic vision of how they can implement this strategy in their classrooms. This

will then correspond to the struggling students performance regarding reading comprehension.

Based on the number of students I work with, there are many students across the grade

levels struggling with reading comprehension. Therefore, the reason I chose this goal is because I

would like to improve the comprehension instruction that students receive. Hopefully by

improving this instruction, the number of students that struggle with reading comprehension will

decrease. The reason I chose to use reciprocal teaching as the main strategy is because the

evidence shows that this is a strategy that has been known to effectively improve struggling

readers comprehension. (Joseph, 2002; McAllum, 2014). It typically relies on low teacher to

student ratios. Since teachers are expected to meet with small groups on a daily basis, this

strategy would be fairly easy to implement.

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My second goal is to learn more about how fluency is taught at each grade level in

Journeys, so that I can provide interventions that go alongside with what students are learning in

the classroom. Additionally, I would like to learn more about the accommodations available for

students of varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I will do this by reading through

the teacher manuals. I will then create lessons that coincide with this material. By improving

these lessons, the struggling readers will improve their skills.

There are two major reasons why I chose this as a goal. The first is that many of the fifth-

grade teachers that I work with voiced a concern regarding their students reading fluency at the

start of the year. Upon working with their students, they discovered that some students reading

fluency were at a second-grade level. After working with these students, progress monitoring

data showed that they have been making gains, however many are still not at grade level. The

second reason I chose this as a goal is because Bean (2015) stated only if the reading specialist

knows what the classroom teacher is doing, and vice versa, can the most appropriate instruction

be provided for students (p. 21). This is evidence that by learning more about the program, I can

better meet the needs of the struggling readers by providing them with instruction that relates to

what they are doing in the classroom.

My final goal is to find and use an assessment tool to help identify the students in the

school that are struggling with writing. I would like to find an assessment that will be effective

for students of varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I will do this by researching the

best screening assessments that are currently being used and taking budgetary constraints into

consideration. I will then present this research to administration in an attempt to implement this

screening tool. By implementing these tools, the struggling writers will be able to get help earlier

on.
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The reason I chose this as a goal is because I currently do not have an assessment used to

identify students that are struggling with writing. According to WGBH Educational Foundation

(2002), Because writing is so integral to a childs success or failure in school, identifying

writing problems early is essential (para. 4). By implementing an assessment or screening tool, I

hope to identify these problems earlier. Further, school data indicates that the majority of

students struggle with standardized assessments such as the Smarter Balanced Assessment. This

requires students to read multiple texts for information and follow that by writing extended

pieces (Bean, 2015, p.221). This evidence indicates that by identifying struggling students

early, I may be able to prepare them for these extended writing pieces.

Infrastructure Proposal:

My first goal is to decide on a common means of communicating literacy goals and

achievements with parents. In my school, the structure for sharing literacy goals and

achievement with parents varies from teacher to teacher. Some teachers use technology, others

write weekly comments, and others send home monthly newsletters. Yet according to Bean

(2015), teachers, administrators, and reading specialists should decide as a group what means

will be used to communicate with and inform parents (p.255). Therefore, the reason I chose this

as a goal is so that the teachers, administrators and myself can be on the same page.

In order to meet this goal, many people have to be involved. As the reading specialist,

and the creator of this plan, it will be my responsibility to meet with administration to propose

this goal. Upon approval, I will need to work with the principal and teachers to decide on a

common means of communication. The resources needed are time and research to make this

change so that teachers can collaborate and brainstorm means of communication before making

an educated decision. This goal will take at least two months to implement the change. This is
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due to the number of meetings and number of people that are involved in the decision making

process. Additionally, it will take time to research the different means of communication. I will

know this goal has been met when there is a consistent, school-wide means of communicating

literacy goals and achievements with parents.

It is reasonable to anticipate some resistance to this change. More specifically, many

teachers will probably be hesitant to make more changes. The teachers just implemented a new

core reading program, they were just given new standards to report out on, and they just changed

how they report out. We are also in the process of a curriculum change. As DuFour, DuFour, and

Eaker (2008) wrote, in the midst of the change process, educators are likely to perceive that

their school has been weakened, their opinions are not valued, and that the stability of the school

has been undermined (Embracing the difficulty of change section, para. 2). Based on

discussions, it is obvious that some teachers are in this mindset. Therefore, it may be more

reasonable to wait until some of these changes are complete before implementing this new

change.

My second goal is to reach out to the local library to develop a summer reading program.

My school currently offers only one community opportunity regarding literacy, but it takes place

during the school year. School data indicates that many students words correct per minute

(WCPM) decreases over the summer. The reason for this goal is to encourage students to

continue reading over the summer, and hopefully no longer see decreases in WCPM. Bean

(2015) states, Reading specialists can work collaboratively with school librarians to develop

experiences for students that create excitement and enthusiasm for reading (p. 243). Although

Bean was speaking about school librarians, the weekly discussion gave me the idea of reaching

out to the local library.

LITERACY ACTION PLAN 9

In order to create this program, I will work with both the school librarian and local

librarian. The steps will include working collaboratively to create a program, ensuring that all

students are able to get a library card, and communicating so that all parents are aware of the

summer reading program. The resources needed will include library cards as well as time to

create and implement the program. We may also want to reach out to local businesses to see if

they are willing to donate prizes for the program. This could take up to three months to

communicate, plan, reach out to businesses, and share the information with students and parents.

Since this requires no prep time on the part of the teachers, I do not anticipate any resistance. I

will know this goal is successful when students are participating in the program, and hopefully

there are fewer decreases in WCPM from the spring to the fall.

My last goal is to use technology to create an online professional community. According

to Bean (2015), to be effective, reading specialists must communicate and collaborate with

teachers who are providing the first line of instruction to students (p. 21). However, there are

three grade level teams in my school, and they meet weekly for thirty to forty-five minutes in

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). All of the teachers also meet weekly for about an

hour every Wednesday. These Wednesdays alternate between professional development times,

teacher planning time, and time for reflection. Despite all of these meetings, teachers rarely have

time to collaborate on matters that pertain to everyday teaching because the weekly meetings

typically come with an agenda. While I would love to set up times to meet with every teacher,

there is simply not enough time in the day. Therefore, the reason I chose this goal is because it

would give me a way to communicate and collaborate with teachers, without requiring us all to

be at the same place at the same time.

Essentially this online community would be similar to a Facebook page or a Blackboard

LITERACY ACTION PLAN 10

Discussion board. People could post questions or comments and collaborate on their own time.

As the technology liaison, my first step would be to talk to the head of technology in the district

to learn about the rules and regulations in place. I would then have to set up the page, and

provide training to the teachers on how to use the page. The resources necessary for this are an

online platform, research, and time. The research would be useful in determining which online

platform would be the most successful for this purpose. Time is necessary in order to complete

the change. Realistically this change could take up to a month for all of the research to be

complete, as well as the time it would take to then set up all of the teachers with accounts and

provide training. I do not anticipate much resistance with this change, as teachers are always

happy to have more support. I will know I have met this goal when teachers have a place to

communicate with me online on their own time regarding literacy education.

Action Steps for Supporting Teachers:

My first goal is to provide teachers with time to work on the professional development

that is provided on district wide workshop days. For example, if a district wide workshop day

focuses on how to teach vocabulary, I will work with the principal to provide staff with further

training and support regarding how to teach vocabulary at a later date. I will look at the school

wide professional development schedule and try to align it with the district workshop schedule.

According to Gulamhussein (2013), some studies have concluded that teachers may

need as many as 50 hours of instruction, practice and coaching before a new teaching strategy is

mastered and implemented in class (p. 14). Therefore the reason I chose this goal is because

teachers need more than one day to really master a new strategy. After talking to teachers in my

school, I learned that many felt that the professional development typically provided has been

ineffective. Teachers have been introduced to something once, and been expected to implement it
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 11

in their classrooms. By providing additional support, I hope to make the professional

development more effective than it has been in the past.

My second goal is to limit the number of initiatives that teachers are expected to work on.

I will do this by taking a more active role on the leadership committee that I am currently on. In

this position, I will be able to speak up when I see the number of initiatives is increasing by too

much, too quickly.

The reason I chose this as a goal is because of the class discussions as well as

conversations with teachers. Currently many teachers are overwhelmed by the increasing

demands passed down to them. While I may not be able to nix every demand, I will be able to

look at the professional development schedule, and speak up when the number of initiatives is

unreasonable. I will know if it has gotten to that point, when teachers are not provided with

substantial professional development to support them through the implementation phase of the

changes expected of them (Gulamhussein, 2013).

Further, in deciding which professional development topics to nix, I will look at how they

compare to the districts mission statement. According to DuFour, DuFour and Eaker (2008),

there is an enormous difference between writing a mission and living a mission (Chapter 5,

para 4). In order to truly be living our school mission, the professional development topics

should support that initiative.

My third goal is to differentiate school wide professional development. Currently when

we have school wide professional development, all teachers are expected to sit through all of the

trainings. Therefore, when classroom teachers are expected to sit through trainings regarding

assessments, the specials teachers such as art and physical education teachers, also have to sit

through it. This does not prove to be a good use of time as specials teachers are not going to use
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 12

the same assessments as classroom teachers.

The reason I chose this as a goal is so that all teachers can receive professional

development that impacts their teaching. When thinking about coaching, Bean (2015), states that

the goal of coaching is to support teachers in achieving their own goals and facilitate teacher

learning (p. 142). I think this applies to professional development as well. It should relate to the

teachers own goals. Ideally, I would like specials teachers to receive professional development

that relates to them. For example, a physical education teacher could receive professional

development about how to assess literacy topics such as vocabulary in the physical education

setting rather than hearing about how it will be assessed in the general education classroom. In

conclusion, professional development should be tailored to meet the needs of all teachers.

Goal Action Map:

LITERACY ACTION PLAN 13

Literacy Goal Statement: It is the vision of CBS that all students become readers both in the

classroom and out. These readers will be able to fluently read, comprehend, and respond to texts

in a variety of ways. The teachers of CBS strive to provide students with the tools needed for

student success.

Action Steps Timeline* Lead Implementa Resources Measure of

Person(s) tion Needed Success
Specifics
Compile a variety Summer Title 1 reading -Find Internet, time Completed
of resources that 2017 specialist resources folder filled
include best with literacy
practice for -Put resources
literacy strategies resources in related to each
that can be Google content area
integrated into a Drive folder
variety of content
areas -Share folder
with staff

-Provide
training on
provided
resources

Find out and Fall 2017 Title 1 reading -Review Access to Teachers will
share how reading specialist, curriculum completed have a
program aligns grade-level and reading curriculum document that
with the science teams program and reading clearly
and social studies program, time indicates
curriculum -Compare which items
programs in the science
and social
-Share studies
findings curriculum
are covered
by the reading
program and
where in the
program it is
covered
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 14

Design recurring Fall 2017 Administration, -Meet with Time, The

professional leadership team administratio meetings, professional
development that n flexible development
goes beyond first schedules to schedule will
exposure -Plan adapt due to indicate times
trainings snow days for recurring
mapping out professional
when the development
topics will (i.e., fluency
be revisited training 1,
fluency
-Follow training 2,
through with etc.,)
trainings

Improve April Title 1 reading -Create Time, All reading

comprehension 2017 specialist video technology teachers will
instruction demonstrati- have access to
through sharing on a video
video of DR-TA demonstration
strategy -Share video of the strategy
and provide as well as
training training as
they
-Revisit implement the
strategy to strategy
answer any
questions or
provide
additional
training
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 15

Learn more about Summer Title 1 reading -Review Time, Students will
fluency in 2017 specialist, how fluency meetings, receive
Journeys so that I grade-level is being access to fluency
teams taught in Journeys interventions
can provide
Journeys curriculum, that directly
interventions that time to meet support what
go alongside with -Meet with with students they are
what students are grade-level learning in the
learning in the teams to classroom
classroom determine
which
teaching
methods
from
Journeys are
preferred

-Research
interventions
that support
the methods
used in the
classroom

-Implement
interventions
in the
classroom
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 16

Find and use Winter Title 1 reading -Meet with Time, Students will
assessment tool to 2017 specialist, ELA ELA subject- meetings, be assessed
help identify subject-area area access to using a
committee, committee to library common
students that are
grade-level determine database for writing
struggling with teams what research, assessment.
writing methods are possible The results
being used in funding for will be used
the district assessment to identify
students who
-Compare are struggling
methods with writing
with current
research

-Meet with
grade level
teams to pick
a consistent
means of
assessment
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 17

Decide on a End of All teachers at -Meet to Time, All teachers

common means of 2016- Cascade Brook discuss meetings, will
communicating 2017 School communicati access to communicate
school on methods library literacy goals
literacy goals and
year that are database for with parents
achievements currently research, using the
with parents being used method for same means
retrieving regardless of
-Brainstorm parent input the grade
additional level they
possible teach
methods

-Compare
methods to
research

-Reach out
to parents for
input

-Meet to
pick method

Reach out to the Summer Title 1 reading -Meet with Time, All students
local library to 2018 specialist, librarians, meetings, will have
develop a summer school prizes, means access to an
librarian, local -Develop for sharing engaging
reading program
librarian program information summer
with teachers, reading
-Reach out parents and program.
to students Students will
community read over the
member for summer and
prize hopefully
donations there will be
less decreases
-Share in WCPM
information during that
with time
teachers,
parents and
students
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 18

Use technology to Fall 2017 Technology -Meet with Technology, Teachers will
create an online liaison, district technology time, participate in
professional technology department meetings an online
department to go over professional
community
plan and learning
discuss community
possible regularly
complication
s

-Provide
trainings for
teachers

-Begin using
regularly
Provide teachers Fall 2017 Administration, -Meet with Time, Teachers will
with time to work leadership team administratio meetings be held
on professional n and accountable
leadership for what they
development that
team to learn during
is provided on develop a district
district wide professional workshop
workshop days development days as the
schedule that additional
revisits time will
topics taught support them
on district during the
wide implementatio
workshop n phase
days
Limit the number Start of Administration, -Meet with Time, The number
of initiatives that 2017- leadership team administratio meetings, list of initiatives
teachers are 2018 n and of initiatives that teachers
school leadership are expected
expected to work
year team to to work on
on ensure that will not
the list of exceed five in
initiatives is a school year
limited
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 19

Differentiate Fall 2017 Administration, -Meet with Time, All teachers

school wide leadership team administratio meetings, will receive
professional n and time to plan professional
leadership the development
development
team to differentiated that is tailored
ensure that professional to their
all development specific
professional needs.
development
provided by
us is
differentiate
d to meet the
needs of all
teachers

Adapted from the Literacy Action Plan Template for the Spring Hill Middle School in Scotland County, NC:
http://shms.scotland.k12.nc.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1410307/File/Scotland
%20LiteracyActionPlanTemplate_School%20Level_2013[1].pdf
LITERACY ACTION PLAN 20

References:

Bean, R. M. (2015). The reading specialist: Leadership for the classroom, school, and

community. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from https://read.amazon.com/

Dufour, R., Dufour, R., Eaker, R., (2008) Revisiting professional communities at work; New

insights for improving schools. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from

https://read.amazon.com/

Edwards, A. H., Neill, P., & Faust, P. B. (2015). Literacy coaching: Middle school academic

achievement and teacher perceptions regarding content area literacy strategy

instruction. Alabama Journal Of Educational Leadership, 215-25. Retrieved from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1097528

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of

high-stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/Teaching-the-

Teachers-Effective-Professional-Development-in-an-Era-of-High-Stakes-

Accountability/ Teaching-the-Teachers-Full-Report.pdf

Heller, R. and Greenleaf, C. (2007). Literacy instruction in the content areas. Washington,D.C.:

The Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from

http://www.doe.mass.edu/literacy/ presentations/0308contentareas.pps.
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Hoffman, J. L., Collins, M. F., & Schickedanz, J. A. (2015). Instructional challenges in

developing young children's science concepts: Using informational text read-

alouds. Reading Teacher, 68(5), 363-372. Retrieved from

http://web.b.ebschost.com.une.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

vid=5&sid=1b1499d2-6d9b-4fa6-8e62-32bd83739862%40sessionmgr103

Joseph, L. (2002). Best practices in interventions for students with reading problems. Reading

Rockets. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/best-practices-

planning- interventions-students-reading-problems

McAllum, R. (2014). Reciprocal Teaching: Critical Reflection on Practice. Kairaranga, 15(1),

26-35. Retrieved from http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryMan

agerServlet?dps_pid=IE26420981

National Council of Teachers of English. (2006). NCTE Principles of Literacy Reform. Retrieved

from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/

AdolLitPrinciples.pdf

Oliveira, A. W. (2015). Reading engagement in science: Elementary students' read-aloud

experiences. International Journal Of Environmental And Science Education,

10(3), 429-451.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.une.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

vid=13&sid=1b1499d2-6d9b-4fa6-8e62-32bd83739862%40sessionmgr103

WGBH Educational Foundation. (2002). Misunderstood minds: Basics of writing. Retrieved

from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/writingbasics.html