Collaborative resource management anchors one end of the Literacy Coaching Continuum. In this learning format, the literacy coach works with teachers to help them become familiar with available resources. The focus should be on the review and management of materials and teaching resources that are directly related to the focus and objectives of the coaching. The coach can also help the teacher manage the instructional assets in a thoughtful and proactive way. Professional learning interactions centered on "stuff" can provide many opportunities for rich conversation about the heart of teaching: students and the instructional plan to meet their needs.

The Coach's Role

In their work in collaborative resource management, coaches might be expected to do the following:

• Effectively use resources as necessary.
• Share knowledge of successful techniques in classroom management and instructional planning for effective literacy instruction.
• Assist teachers with the appropriate use of core and supplemental instructional materials that align with district and state curriculums.
• Help teachers select books and other instructional materials to meet individual literacy needs.
• Examine, evaluate, and recommend instructional methods, materials, and equipment, including technology.
• Maintain a bookroom or similar collection of resources for use in guided reading groups and other literacy strategies.
• Help set up a classroom environment that is conducive to effective literacy instruction (e.g., with centers, a classroom library, and bulletin boards at children's eye level for posting work).
• Identify needs and make recommendations for appropriate reading and writing intervention materials.
• Coordinate the inventory, ordering, and distribution of leveled texts.
• Use available guidance to review core, supplemental, and intensive intervention materials under consideration for purchase, looking for evidence that the materials are aligned with federal program requirements, such as those of Reading First.

Note that these job activities highlight helping to choose appropriate instructional resources as well as facilitating the organization and effective integration of the materials.

The Importance of Resource Management

Is it any wonder that collaborative resource management is an important scaffold in professional learning? In college we learn about curriculum and teaching materials from our professors. Their choices are, as one would expect, guided by their particular philosophy, and so we tend to see only a limited representation of the full range of available resources. When we get our first teaching job, we often inherit a cache of instructional supplies from the person who preceded us. Sometimes the materials are carefully stored and inventoried; more often they are not. We may be familiar with the "stuff"; more often we are not. At the other extreme is the teacher who is just starting out in the profession or at the site, in a new classroom, with a limited budget and not much inventory to start with. Sometimes we are told what core curriculum materials we must use without having been part of the decision-making process. Sometimes we were part of the decision-making process but disagreed with the decision. Both scenarios present resource management challenges that teachers must face and adapt to in the course of their teaching careers.

As soon as new teachers enter the classroom, they are bombarded with information about the "latest and greatest" programs that are "scientifically based" and ready to roll out for success. Open any professional journal and ads for "research-based" materials jump off the pages with promised solutions to instructional challenges. What to buy, why to buy it, and for whom it will be most effective are questions that teachers must grapple with. Becoming an informed consumer is an important aspect of effective teaching. Helping our peers become informed consumers is an important aspect of effective coaching.

Richard L. Allington (2005) suggests that there are three issues to attend to when reviewing the application of commercial materials to instructional practice. Educators must first reflect on the evidence that "using the product develops teachers' expertise about effective reading instruction" (p. 16). Given that teacher expertise is a critical feature of effective literacy instruction, we would be ill-advised, Allington points out, to choose products that hold little promise for increasing teacher knowledge. Reviewing materials through this lens encourages us to judge the comprehensiveness of the support materials and to question whether the materials are aligned with research and best practice. Unfortunately, this perspective on resource acquisition is rare. Educators are much more likely to focus on how we will apply the resources to help our students than we are to think about how the resources will affect our skill and knowledge growth.

What would a product look like that developed teachers' expertise about effective reading instruction? I'll take a crack at this question, and I recommend that you do the same. Commercial materials that develop teachers' expertise about effective reading instruction exhibit the following qualities:

• They are organized around research-based principles regarding what children need in order to learn to read and to read to learn.
• They provide detailed information to the teacher on the rationale for the program content (scope, assessment/instruction cycle) and organization (sequence, pacing).
• They are explicit about, and provide models of, exemplary practices in their format and content—that is, they are culturally responsive, provide universal access, are motivational, tap into students' funds of knowledge, and provide opportunities for active engagement by students.
• They are sensitive to the needs and skills of teachers at various points in their career.

A second consideration that Allington suggests is the "role you intend the product to play in the total literacy curriculum" (p. 16). This suggestion reminds us that no one commercial product by itself can provide a complete program. We must be thoughtful and selective in our choices, so that we don't end up with a multilayered curriculum hodgepodge. Sharon Walpole and Michael C. McKenna (2004) warn us that some teachers, "mindful of the pendulum swings that they have experienced, cling to their old materials and create a hybrid program that combines elements of their old materials with elements of the new ones. [Be] proactive in preventing this practice, which is known as layering" (p. 155). I echo that cautionary note. I have worked with teachers who have patched together a literacy program that would delight an archeologist. The "layers" tell a tale of fickle interventions and faddish responses to long-term challenges.

Last, Allington (2005) says we need to consider the "interest level of the product and its potential to engage minds and foster an interest in reading" (p. 16). We know that student engagement is an essential feature of reading achievement (Guthrie, Wigfield, & Perencevich, 2004). Leaving this critical element out of the mix is a recipe for failure. Asking students what they find motivating and interesting is an essential component of an instructional materials review.

Choosing Materials to Support Instruction

My first teaching job was as a special educator in northern Vermont. My class was newly established to meet the needs of a small group of students who had recently been deinstitutionalized and placed in a local foster-care home. My students ranged in age from 7 to 12 and came with the labels autistic and developmentally delayed. Labels, as you know, do not give a teacher much to go on.

My classroom had no supplies because the program was brand new—a clean slate, so to speak. As a consequence, I didn't begin my teaching career connecting instruction with any specific materials. Fortunately, I had an instructional coach who stressed that teaching was about getting to know my students, observing their current status, and planning instruction to move them forward. She guided me as I made decisions about what materials to buy to support my instructional plans.

In my first year of teaching, I never did buy the packaged curriculum materials that made teaching seem so neat and tidy. With the help of my coach and more experienced peers, I chose support items that my students would gravitate to in a meaningful way. In hindsight I know that even with the best materials on hand, teaching is not neat and tidy. However, selecting appropriate curriculum materials and using them with fidelity goes a long way toward making the job more manageable.

Linda Darling-Hammond (2003) reports that in 2000, new teachers who received training in specific facets of teaching, participated in practice teaching, and received feedback on their teaching were less likely by half to leave the teaching profession. One aspect of the training provided was the selection and use of instructional materials.

In a report titled Resources, Instruction, and Research, Cohen, Raudenbush, and Ball (2000) from the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy explore this question: What resources matter, how, and under what circumstances? The underpinning for this working paper is that instruction is not simply what teachers do; it is the "interactions among teachers, students, and content, in environments" (p. 10). The authors point out that a "well-articulated regime ought to be clear about the required resources and justify the claim by exploring how resources are used to achieve specific aims" (p. 27). They also suggest that it is important to shift the conversation from conventional instructional resources in the abstract to how the resources build on and enhance well-grounded learning goals.

The Ohio Department of Education (2006) has instituted a Literacy Specialist Endorsement that is valid for "providing coaching and professional development in the teaching of reading for classroom teachers at all grade levels" (p. 1). Their Standards Matrix articulates the categories and indicators of the foundational knowledge for the endorsement. Under the category of "Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, and Materials," the matrix states: "Candidates have knowledge of a wide range of instructional practices, approaches, methods, and curriculum materials to support reading and writing instruction" (p. 5). The indicators for the endorsement include the following elements:

• Effectively use a variety of curriculum materials including technology-based materials to assist teachers in planning multilevel instruction.
• Plan and provide professional development programs that increase the knowledge base for teachers, professionals, parents, and administrators in the use of curriculum materials.
• Coach teachers in the use of a wide range of print and nonprint materials, including technology-based materials.
• Evaluate specific curriculum materials according to evidence-based research that supports the different practices.
• Compare and contrast, use, interpret, and recommend a wide range of assessment tools and practices.
• Provide professional development to teachers in the selection of books, technology-based information, and non-print materials representing multiple levels, broad interests, reading abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. (Ohio Department of Education, 2006, pp. 5–7)

Clearly, the Ohio Department of Education considers collaborative resource management an important aspect of the job of the literacy coach. I agree.

Getting Started

So where do you start with collaborative resource management? In my work as a literacy coach, I have found it helpful to begin by facilitating a thorough review of the resources on hand. This review simply requires that a group of teachers works together to inventory the curriculum, assessment, and human resources that they currently have access to.

Professional Learning

For suggested materials, procedures, and guiding questions for the inventory process, see Part III's Module 7: Literacy Program Inventory. This three-part module, focused on assessments, instructional materials, and human resources, emerged from work with a group of teachers who complained that they had so many instructional programs available to them that they didn't know where to start.

A literacy program inventory can help a coach do the following:

• Identify gaps. For example, teachers might discover that they are spending a tremendous amount of time on phonics instruction and that fluency is being ignored.
• Determine areas of overlap. This combats the "silver bullet" approach—a situation in which so many instructional packages are available in the school that the teachers are confused about what to use, when to use it, and with whom.
• Talk about resources. This helps to spark rich conversations about students and their instructional needs.
• Put the role of resources into proper perspective. Instructional tools shouldn't define the job to be done, but they should provide support in pursuit of the learning goal.
• Review human resources to enable planning for better collaboration. For example, in one school district, this process led to improved communication and service alignment between consultants, district literacy coaches, and the inclusion support staff.
• Recall that instructional materials have an intended purpose and that we need to be careful not to overuse or misuse the resources.
• Remember that instruction should be aligned to learning standards.
• Encourage cross-conversation among content teachers.

Another helpful tactic is to coordinate and collaborate for coherence by inviting various partners to the table to bring clarity to the task at hand. For example, when a colleague and I worked with literacy coaches at a district in Ohio, we would sometimes co-present at our network meetings with Sharon Martin, a representative from Scholastic Press whose reading series (The Literacy Place) was being used by the district. This helped us eliminate some of the fragmentation and confusion that can result when multiple parties approach common issues from different perspectives. For example, at one session on the topic of text comprehension strategies, Sharon shared some of The Literacy Place assessments that would be useful in measuring student gain in comprehension, while we demonstrated some potential teaching tools for strategy instruction. This type of coordination is one way to work smarter instead of harder.

In this same spirit of collaboration, a literacy coach might invite the library media specialists, technology support personnel, special education and content teachers, and others to regular team meetings. Two questions that should be on the table at each meeting are "Who else should be here to inform and enhance the work we are about to do?" and "Who else will have valuable information regarding appropriate instructional resources?"

Effective Use of Instructional Materials

In the study Learning to Read—Lessons from Exemplary First-Grade Classrooms (Pressley, Allington, Wharton-McDonald, Block, & Morrow, 2001), the authors note that high-achieving classrooms were also well-managed classrooms, with teachers following regular but flexible routines, planning in advance, and effectively managing both time and other adults in the classroom. Charlotte Danielson (1996) includes "management of materials and supplies" as an important component of the classroom environment and describes "distinguished" teachers as having "seamless" routines for handling materials and supplies, "with students assuming some responsibility for efficient operation" (p. 84). She also considers the organization of physical space—including making all learning equally accessible to all students—an essential element of effective teaching. The points these authors make about the importance of management and organization are worth our attention.

I consider myself an organized person. I rarely tackle an assignment without carefully choosing materials that I might need and tidying up my area so that I can focus on the task at hand. This physical order helps me organize mentally as well. I'm not obsessive about tidiness, but the dipstick test for me is this: Do I have the right tools for the job easily accessible so there's no need to plow through a bunch of extraneous items? If I don't, the outcome is an inability to focus and get things done. When I'm teaching, the dipstick test must also include the impact of my organization on the students (adults or children) I'm working with.

On one of my assignments a few years ago, I was visiting a kindergarten classroom. The teacher, Mrs. K., indicated that she needed support with behavior management issues and asked me to help her "bring order to the chaos of her classroom." It was a delight to observe Mrs. K. interacting with her children: she was respectful, enthusiastic, and creative. The problem was that she often had to stop her instruction to locate materials before she could proceed. At one point, she asked to me to head over to the literacy centers she had established. Had I not known what to look for, it would have been easy to miss them, as they were hidden among stacks of unrelated paperwork and sundry storage items. It's hard to direct children to follow a routine, such as going to the literacy centers, when they can't find the location where the routine should take place.

My first reaction to the chaos was to pitch in and help Mrs. K. clean up the classroom. (Organized people love to organize other people!) My fingers were itching to activate the broom brigade, but apparently several of her colleagues had already tried this intervention, and, as she put it, "it didn't take." Short-term solutions, although satisfying at the moment, don't necessarily influence practice in the future. The neat classroom doesn't necessarily remain tidy! Instead, Mrs. K. and I began focused conversations about her request. What did she want, why did she want it, and what did she have to do to get there? She talked about how her disorganization disrupted her teaching routine and how these disruptions affected her students. This was the hook that snagged her. She started to pay careful attention and to discern the real reason for interruptions in learning. When she had to pause during a lesson to find something, her students became restless, unfocused, and distractible. She realized that what she had initially pegged as a behavior management issue was in fact the children's reaction to her lack of organizational planning.

I am reminded of the sentiment expressed by Arthur L. Costa and Robert J. Garmston in the video training series Another Set of Eyes (1988). They note that

The coach is not interested in creating the perfect lesson, but in exercising and enhancing the thinking that goes on behind the teacher's actions. Coaches ask questions and give responses that are designed to encourage, clarify, and probe so as to discover the thinking behind the teacher's decisions.

Examples from the Field

The specific tasks related to collaborative resource management will vary, of course, depending on program objectives, staff needs, and other considerations. To get an idea of typical tasks, let's look at some examples of resource management activities taken from the six-week reports that literacy coaches in a district in Ohio submitted to their principals:

• Distributed and reviewed materials for the Extended Learning Opportunity program (an after-school program).
• Worked with a teacher to complete a nonfiction book order.
• Helped teachers to bag and label nonfiction guided-reading books.
• Helped teachers to organize books in the book room.
• Copied and distributed running records, phonemic awareness assessments, and class lists for grades K–3.
• Met with a teacher to discuss phonics instruction and reviewed some curriculum resources with her.
• Helped a teacher to set up guided reading groups and organized materials for instruction.
• Prepared and distributed Literacy Place lesson planners for teachers.
• Worked with teachers to review Wiggleworks, a computer program for beginning readers.

As the list suggests, collaborative resource management involves some tasks that are seemingly mundane (completing a book order) and others that will have an obvious broad impact down the road (helping teachers to organize books in the book room).

It is in this format of the continuum that coaches often raise the issue of how to draw the line between facilitating reflective resource management and simply becoming another pair of hands in reaction to a list of management issues that a teacher has to deal with. Let me share a personal example to highlight what I mean.

As a new coach in 1980, I was anxious to establish trust and garner respect. This was going quite well with many of the teachers I worked with. One teacher, however, decided that it would be most beneficial if I could run errands that she would otherwise not have time to do. In my effort to please, I allowed myself to become her preferred courier service rather than the trusted colleague I aspired to be! Sometimes, in order to build trust, we find we need to extend ourselves beyond the "typical" reach of coach. Generally speaking, though, literacy coaches must clarify our roles and responsibilities for teachers so that we don't spread ourselves too thin doing tasks that veer from the purpose of the professional learning.

What will elevate the mundane to more influential is the care that we take in broadening the task's effect on professional learning. As I work with a teacher to complete a nonfiction book order, for example, we can engage in conversation about the best match between the students and the books available, highlight attributes of effective nonfiction texts (graphs, big ideas, pictures, etc.), and encourage the teacher to consider student interests as she makes her choices.

Professional Learning

For literacy coaches looking for additional suggestions on how to assist teachers with resource management, I recommend the book The Literacy Coach's Handbook: A Guide to Research-Based Practice (2004) by Sharon Walpole and Michael C. McKenna. The authors include several chapters relevant to this topic.

Questions for Discussion

1. If you are a literacy coach, share some examples of how you have used resource management to build relationships with the teachers whom you work with. If you are not a literacy coach, share examples from your perspective.
2. Share some thoughts on how a literacy coach can walk the fine line between doing something for a teacher (to be helpful and build rapport) and standing aside to build capacity in the teacher.
3. Recall an experience when a colleague helped you to review curriculum materials or organize a literacy routine in your classroom. Was it a positive experience? If not, why not? If so, what did the colleague do that made it a positive experience?
4. When we are accomplished at something, we naturally want to show someone else how it should be done. As a coach, our job isn't to tell teachers how or what to do (a short-term solution), but rather to help them reflect on their own practice. How might a literacy coach rein in the urge to engage in quick fixes that don't reap lasting consequences?
5. It's important that a coach's time be focused on the identified coaching goals and objectives. How does this principle apply to resource management?