Two-tier professional development: intensive teacher training with weekly coach follow-up, plus a five-day summer institute and weekly seminars for coaches¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

ELLM's instructional support system uses two programs, one developing teachers and one developing coaches. Teachers begin with a two-day intensive training on the content and strategies needed to implement ELLM/Plus with fidelity, then receive weekly follow-up from a literacy coach who demonstrates, observes, provides feedback, and answers questions in one-hour weekly visits. Coaches begin with an intensive five-day summer institute on literacy and coaching, followed by weekly coaching seminars where they share successes and concerns and work on implementation barriers. Monthly site-based literacy team meetings and quarterly regional teacher gatherings support reflection and new learning.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A literacy coach who visits weekly for one-hour sessions
• ELLM consultants providing individual technical assistance to coaches

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Preschool teachers
• Literacy coaches

Target Learning Goals¶

• Implementing the ELLM/Plus curriculum with fidelity
• Coaching skills and strategies
• Knowledge of literacy research

Affordances¶

• Ellm Coaching Cycle

Related Strategies¶

• Brief initial training with extensive follow-up coaching and on-site facilitation for whole-school program implementation
• Deliver professional development through a 2-week summer institute followed by year-long on-site coaching
• Provide comprehensive professional development and ongoing coaching when implementing a structured literacy program
• Sustained teacher professional development with coaching and professional learning communities
• Use summer programs as learning labs for teachers to practice new instructional strategies
• Coach-the-coaches model for sustaining teacher professional learning implementation
• Train educators through a Summer Institute plus PLC and coaching cycles on data use and instructional routines
• Layered professional development: summer institute plus weekly web conferencing follow-up

Examples¶

• ELLM/Plus curriculum: the literacy curriculum this professional development supports

Key Sources¶

• Early Literacy and Learning Model (ELLM/Plus). (2008). Evidence rating summary, Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research (PCER) studies. https://evidenceforessa.org/program/early-literacy-and-learning-model-plus-ellm-plus/