Translating Literacy Research, Empowering Teachers with Margie Gillis, EdD

Drawing on decades of research on reading and professional development, Margie Gillis, EdD, presents the necessary elements to provide teachers with the training and tools to implement high quality reading instruction in their classrooms. As the founder and president of Literacy How, Dr. Gillis and her team coach teachers across districts and schools in Connecticut using a prescriptive and research-based model, cognitive coaching. Research supports the individualized nature of teacher coaching within a professional development framework that integrates expertise from coaches, high trust and relationality between the coach and teacher, feedback, and teacher agency. Dr. Gillis addresses potential factors that may influence the variability in coaching effectiveness across school contexts and provides implications for sustainability and scalability of professional development programs.