The Literacy Coaching Challenge: Models and Methods for Grades K-8

Michael C. McKenna, PhD, is Thomas G. Jewell Professor of Reading at the University of Virginia. He is the author, coauthor or editor of 15 books and more than 100 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. His books include two that were coauthored with Sharon Walpole: The Literacy Coach’s Handbook: A Guide to Research-Based Practice and Differentiated Reading Instruction: Strategies for the Primary Grades. His other books include Assessment for Reading Instruction (with Steven Stahl); Help for Struggling Readers; Teaching through Text; and Issues and Trends in Literacy Education, among others. Dr. McKenna's research has been sponsored by the National Reading Research Center and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. He is the cowinner of the National Research Conference’s Edward Fry Book Award and American Library Association’s Award for Outstanding Academic Books. He has served on the editorial board of Reading Research Quarterly, and his articles have appeared in that journal as well as in others. Dr. McKenna now works extensively with literacy coaches in Georgia and Virginia.

Sharon Walpole, PhD, is Associate Professor of Reading in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She teaches undergraduate courses on language and literacy development in kindergarten and first grade, master’s courses on content-area reading instruction and on organization and supervision of the reading program, and doctoral seminars on literacy and educational policy. Dr. Walpole has extensive school-based experience, including both high school teaching and elementary school administration. She has also been involved in federally funded and homegrown schoolwide reform projects and has been studying the design and effects of schoolwide reforms, particularly those involving literacy coaches. She works closely with the Reading First initiatives in Delaware, Virginia, and Georgia and is coauthor (with Michael C. McKenna) of The Literacy Coach’s Handbook and Differentiated Reading Instruction, and has written articles in a number of professional journals. In 2007, Dr. Walpole received the Early Career Award from the National Reading Conference for Significant Contributions to Literacy Research and Education.