Evolving Roles and Responsibility of Reading Personnel

CORTEZ, Gerwin Lapuz ROMERO, Carlo Angelino Mendoza

This Topic Addresses these Questions:

Current status of reading personnel Reading specialists role and responsibilities
Roles of other personnel in a literacy program

CURRENT STATUS OF READING PERSONNEL

The increased recognition of reading specialists impact on students reading achievement (Klein, Monti, Mulcahy-Ernt & Speck, 1997; Snow, Burns, & Griiffin, 1998)

 Many School are beginning to recognize the key role that reading specialists play as leaders of successful reading programs (Bean, Knaub, Swan, 2000)

 Reading personnel had been referred to as an endangered species or, at the very least, as unnoticed and ignored (Cohen, Intili, & Robbins, 1978; Wepner, 1977; Wilson & Becker, 1989)

These are the Reasons:

The tightening of school budgets
The decrease in federal funding

 Many school districts are hiring fewer reading specialists and instead hiring nonprofessional personnel to perform the duties traditionally assumed by reading specialist (Long, 1995)

Reading Specialists Roles and Responsibility

Instruction Assessment Leadership

INSTRUCTION
Includes planning and collaboration with teachers, supporting classroom instruction and providing specialized support

ASSESSMENT
Includes the administration and interpretation of diagnostic instruments, assisting classroom teachers in the administration and interpretation of various assessment tools.

LEADERSHIP
Role includes literacy program development and coordination, staff development and serving as a resource to teachers, administrators, and parents.

 The reading specialists primary role in a school should be determined by the needs of the students. Yet the most important role for reading teacher is to develop positive collaborative relationships with teachers (Bean, Travato, & Hamilton, 1995)

Roles of Other Personnel in a Literacy Program

Principal

Classroom Teacher
Other Stakeholders
Parents

PRINCIPAL
Responsible for ensuring that the reading program is being implemented through observations, conferencing with teachers, workshops and professional development opportunities.

CLASSROOM TEACHERS
Classroom teachers have consistent, long-term experience with their students in all areas of the curriculum (Jaeger 1996) and need to make reading important.

 Content area teachers in particular need to understand that they must teach students how to read their textbooks, and they must teach students how to read their textbooks and they must teach strategies that will help students make their way through their texts, (Henwood, 1999/2000).

 Classroom teachers need to understand the psychology of reading and the reading development, the structure of English Language, best practice in reading instruction and assessment strategies that will inform classroom teaching of reading (American Federation of Teachers, 1999).

Other Stakeholders
Parents should keep in close contact with their childs teachers and be supportive of the school reading program . They can spend time listening to their children read, take children to the library, read aloud to children, review homework assignments, limit the amount of television in the home and provide a positive role model for their children.

Reading Personnel as Leaders

Four Dimensions of Leadership Reading Personnel

INTELLECTUAL Ability to use knowledge of literacy and reading program within context to promote knowledge.

EMOTIONAL Ability to recognize and express ones thoughts and feelings to do the job confidently.

Reading Personnel as Leaders

SOCIAL Ability to work well with others to promote effective interactions. MORAL Ability to negotiate for mutually satisfactory outcomes to support broad social ideals.

In a Nutshell
As the roles and responsibilities of reading personnel continue to evolve, so do the leadership characteristics of those who assume these positions in creating a community of literacy advocates. Every success story about the impact of reading personnel on the literacy achievement of students helps others to acknowledge the need to have academically and professionally qualified reading educators in such positions.

 Reading personnel should be expected to have the necessary credentials and should be able to help define their roles and responsibilities. If placed in leadership positions where much of their work focuses on teachers, administrators, and the community, they should be expected to function effectively in four dimensions (intellectual, emotional, social and moral). As more schools come to accept the urgent need to use qualified reading personnel to put into place the critical elements of literacy programs, students potential for learning will be realized.

Professional Development

 The administrator should be committed to the program and eager to collect data, do observations experiment with new strategies and reflect with the rest of the staff on what is happening in the classroom. The administrator must sustain change through his or her continuing presence in workshops, immediate response to teachers concerns and spirit of celebration over successes.

 A system wide commitment to change could be demonstrated by support for release time, reimbursement conferences and establishment of local workshops. Teaching materials to support literacy, access to technology resources, a video of library model lesson and a print library for teacher study on literacy issues also illustrate the administrations commitment to change. Growth-oriented evaluations, where teachers can choose to set personal or team goals for the year and work on these goals without fear of punishment if goals are not met, provide a new level of understanding for teachers professional development.

 Moving toward the goal of effective literacy education requires teachers who are empowered, careful thinkers about their day to day interaction with studentsteachers who are able to reflect on their practice. To support teachers as they continue to develop professionally, a number of strategies are useful: Small-group seminars for reflective dialogue. Journal writing with response or feedback Regularly scheduled meetings with a predictable pattern Discussion of research theory and literature with other teachers. Strategy modelling with peers Lesson Demonstrations Peer coaching Guided practice Structured feedback sessions Peer support teams On-site and off-site consultants

 Before making any consequential decisions, all administrators involved need data based information. Next, they need to work with participants in goal setting. Studies have confirmed the importance of including teachers and administrators in all phases of the professional development program. When both groups have a say in targeting goals for improvement, a balance across individual, instructional, school and school district priorities is more achievable.

Guidelines for Professional Development Programs

The successful planning and implementation of a professional development program is a collaborative effort. It requires reflection on the part of both teachers and administrators, about the current needs and strengths of the schools program. Together, the members of the school teams can then coproduce a systematic plan for meeting those mutually agreed upon needs.

 Of all the advances in professional development, the refocusing of attention on the role of the teacher as professional is likely to have the greatest impact. School administrators have the potential to play a pivotal role in actualizing programs that will support the professional growth of teachers and in turn, the quality of educational opportunities offered to students. The key to school change is a knowledgeable professional in every classroom. That is why schools need to reinvest in professional development.