President's Message:

Dear FLCA Community,

Somehow New Year' wishes don't seem to fit with my sense of the academic year rocketing by—for educators, January 1, 2010 doesn't mark the beginning of the new year, it's merely the faster-moving second half of 2009-2010.  Nevertheless, in keeping with tradition, I do wish all of you a peaceful and productive New Year.

What a year it is has been so far!  We coaches have been swamped by the unprecedented demands of FAIR, Differentiated Accountability, State regulations for those of us in Correct 2 and Correct 3 schools, and the record keeping and oversight that comes hand in hand with the Title One dollars we so desperately need. 

Still, good things are happening here at my home school, T. Dewitt Taylor Middle High.  More teachers than ever are attending onsite workshops presented by our very own faculty on a variety of teaching strategies and innovations-from Cornell Notes across the curriculum, to ActivInspire software.  Literature Circles are taking hold as we investigate best practices to bring striving readers into the Literacy Club.  And, we are finally coming to understand the critical role of vocabulary development in the acquisition of literacy and academic content.  Hopefully we will carry the renewed collegiality among faculty, and our commitment to best practices into the New Year.

Our goal at FLCA this year is to continue to develop as a resource for Literacy Coaches with bi-monthly newsletters, to provide opportunities for collaboration among colleagues, and offer tools for professional development.  Take a look at the professional article in this edition of the FLCA Newsletter by Enrique A. Puig, of the Morgridge International Reading Center at UCF.   In “RtI2 and Literacy Coaching: The Evolution Continues” Puig (2009) concisely defines RtI as a framework for expanded collaboration and support for literacy development across the curriculum.  He describes implications for the integration of literacy and content area along a coaching continuum, cementing ever more deeply the importance of literacy coaching as a critical tool for school wide professional development.

Plans for the near future include establishing a blog for FLCA members, creating a website-based drop-box for suggestions, and hosting a summer coaching conference/seminar.    Check our website for these upcoming tools and events.

Hope and Happiness-

Archer Israel, President FLCA

A Message from the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse

CALL FOR LCC TOOLS

Would you like to submit a tool for use by literacy coaches to the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse (LCC), a joint effort of NCTE and IRA? The LCC is soliciting tools that will be peer-reviewed by members of the LCC Literacy Council for potential publication in the LCC website. Deadlines for submission of tools are October 31, 2008; February 15, 2009; and May 15, 2009.

LCC Literacy Council hopes to greatly broaden and expand working coaches' voices and participation in the LCC through this effort. The LCC also hopes that researchers will consider publishing observation tools that they have developed. Such tools can be valuable resources for other research, program evaluation, and development of individual coaching skills.

Tools on all topics related to literacy/ reading, instructional coaching are welcomed. Specific examples of tools would be helpful to other coaches are: quality tools used to document one's work as a coach, guides for observation of instruction, rubrics for observing instruction, and so on.

Submission Information ( pdf)

A Message from the Dyslexia Research Registry:

The purpose of the Dyslexia Research Registry is to facilitate research in the understanding of dyslexia. We are inviting families who have a child with severe reading difficulties who would like to participate in reading research studies to join the registry. We will then notify families of research studies being conducted by the Learning Disability Center at Florida State University that are appropriate for their family in Florida.Families may then choose the studies in which they want to participate.

We are also recruiting educators and other literacy professionals who would like to participate in research. For more information contact Dr. Megan Bakan at bakan@psy.fsu.edu or 1-866-290-2456 or visit our website.

PDF Information Brochures for educators or families.