The Common Core Coaching Book ─ Strategies to Help Teachers Address the K-5 ELA Standards

This book provides essential coaching tools to support teachers in planning and implementing instruction aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The authors explain the key instructional shifts brought about by the CCSS in K-5 English language arts classrooms. Eighteen specific strategies for coaching large groups, small groups, and individual teachers are presented, including clear-cut procedures, vivid illustrative examples, and 26 reproducible forms. Grounded in research on adult learning, the book addresses common coaching challenges and how to overcome them. The large-size format facilitates photocopying; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Laurie Elish-Piper, PhD, is Distinguished Teaching Professor, Presidential Engagement Professor, and Director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University (NIU), where she teaches graduate courses related to literacy coaching and leadership. Dr. Elish-Piper also serves as Deputy Provost for NIU. Formerly she worked as an elementary teacher, a middle school reading teacher, and an educational therapist in a clinical setting. Her research and teaching focus on literacy leadership and coaching, and she works extensively with school districts to develop and implement literacy coaching programs at the elementary and middle school levels. Dr. Elish-Piper is coauthor of seven previous books and has presented and published widely on literacy coaching, including in The Reading Teacher and Elementary School Journal.

Susan K. L'Allier, EdD, is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Reading Program in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. Prior to joining the university faculty, Dr. L'Allier worked as an elementary teacher, a lead teacher, and a principal. She has conducted multiple research studies with Laurie Elish-Piper to examine the relationship between literacy coaching and student literacy achievement. Their work has appeared in journal articles, book chapters, and presentations, as well as in The Literacy Coaching Series, a video "workshop in a box" that enables viewers to see and analyze interactions between literacy coaches and teachers.