Exploring Literacy Assessment through Teacher Leader Collaborative Inquiry

Abstract

This chapter focuses on teacher leaders' coaching practice that fosters collaborative, inquiry-based, professional learning among classroom teachers to improve P-12 literacy assessment. The chapter reports on a research study that examines classroom teachers' leadership and coaching experience as a required assignment of the graduate level course in the M.Ed. in Literacy program. Based on the research findings, the chapter offers strategies for initiating, implementing, and evaluating collaborative inquiries on classroom or school-wide literacy assessment. The chapter includes suggestions for effective ways to implement and evaluate coaching to improve literacy assessment. Further, an implementation model and checklist for the effective collaboration and literacy coaching created based on the study suggests step-by-step processes and techniques to be used in urban and suburban P-12 schools.