The Vision, Six Strategies for Change, and Skeletal Plan for Crossing the Implementation Bridge

Strategy 1: Creating a Shared Vision of the

Change:
The vision is that all 6-8 teachers at Otho
Stuart Middle School will be considered
teachers of reading.

Strategy 2: Planning and Identifying

Resources Necessary for the Change:
All teachers will have reading resources and
direct support from our building literacy
coach that they use to implement in their
classrooms.

Strategy 3: Investing in Professional

Development/Professional Learning:
Teachers will receive ongoing opportunities to

Explanation for Addressing this Strategy

with Stakeholders:
Once in full implementation, students and
parents can expect to have reading assigned
and supported through reading strategies in
every core class. In order to ensure this vision
is shared by all teachers, we need to show the
progression of our state testing data to
support the use of reading strategies in all
core classes. We also need to guarantee
teachers that training and coaching support
will be provided so they are comfortable
teaching reading in their content area. We
also need to present parent feedback on this
change. Their eagerness for more
opportunities for their child to practice
reading will help motivate all teachers to
embrace this change.
Explanation:
The current role of the literacy coach will be
expanded to include literacy coaching for all
core content teachers. During our
professional learning time every week, staff
will be collaborating with each other and the
literacy coach to plan, reflect, and modify
their practices to meet their students reading
needs. To ensure that our plan is always up to
date, our building literacy coach will only use
current and relevant research based strategies
to train teachers. We will also use up to date
research during the professional learning time
with teachers to learn about these classroom
reading strategies. We will know our plan has
been implemented by walking into any core
content classroom and seeing either direct
literacy instruction or literacy addressed in
their success criteria for the days lesson.
Explanation:
We will first assess the depth of training each
staff member needs based on an initial survey

develop their skills in teaching reading during

our professional learning times every week.

Strategy 4: Checking or Assessing

Progress:
All staff members are involved in assessing
the progress of our reading strategies
implementation in core classes. The literacy
coach and administration team will formally
check and assess progress every quarter.

Strategy 5: Providing Continuous

Assistance:
All staff members will support each other
through the process and seek out the literacy
coach for additional support or questions
throughout the year.

at the beginning of the year and their NWEA

growth data. Based on this information,
training will be differentiated based on our
teachers needs. During our early release time
every Wednesday, we will come together as a
staff to develop our skills in teaching reading.
Our building literacy coach may need training
for specific reading strategies in the Science
and Math content areas. At the end of each
session, teachers will complete a short survey
assessing their learning for the day and
identifying next steps or needs for the
following week to ensure their learning was
effective for the day.
Explanation:
We will be checking and assessing the
progress of implementation on a regular
basis. This will formally happen with
benchmark tests (our NWEA testing that
happens every quarter), surveys out to the
staff and through documented coaching
cycles with our literacy coach. It will also
informally happen through conversations
during professional learning time and
reflections recorded in our online learning log
in the district. The administration team and
literacy coach will meet every quarter to
review and interpret their collected data to
address next steps in learning and identify
successes to celebrate. They will then present
this information during the following early
release Wednesday meeting time and also
electronically in the weekly newsletter sent
out from the principal to teachers.
Explanation:
The main form of assistance to maintain the
momentum of implementation will be the
support of our building literacy coach. We
will sustain and improve implementation
through consistent and open conversations in
the hallways and during professional learning
times. We will take all feedback, observations
and reflections to consistently address any

Strategy 6: Creating a Context Conducive

to Change:
We will create and nurture our culture of all
teachers being teachers of reading to support
our vision.

problems or hiccups that arise in the process

and take care of it immediately. We will also
publicly recognize all of the positive progress
we are making during the times we get
together as a staff and send out shout out
emails to staff to celebrate success as well.
Explanation:
We will create a sense of urgency for this
need by showing our state reading data in
comparison to the world wide data. We will
show how all teachers are responsible for
teaching reading as it is a crucial skill to
master to access content in any classroom.
The structure in our school already exists to
have professional learning and training
around teaching reading skills. We also have
our advisory time with students where we can
set aside time outside of our content area time
in the day to address reading needs as a
whole school or as a grade level. We must
model to students the importance and desire
for reading. Reading must become a culture
for our school to embrace in order to
implement it successfully.