“This book has been a touchstone text for my students since the first edition. Current and future reading specialists, literacy coaches, and literacy leaders of every kind will appreciate the important updates in the fourth edition—a focus on technology, attention to the ILA's Standards 2017, an emphasis on culturally relevant instruction, and much more. The original content focusing on the roles and responsibilities of literacy leaders across all levels is more applicable today than ever. I will absolutely continue to recommend this book to all of my literacy and leadership graduate students and colleagues!”

—Jacy Ippolito, EdD, Secondary and Higher Education Department, Salem State University


“The fourth edition brings this work up to date with a broader conceptualization of the role that literacy specialists play in improving learning across student, classroom, and organizational levels. The book is full of practical applications and engaging vignettes. With expanded attention to oral language development, multiliteracies, digital tools, linguistic and cultural diversity, disciplinary literacies, and secondary school contexts, the fourth edition is a page-turning instructional resource that both novice and experienced specialists will want to keep forever.”

—Dana A. Robertson, EdD, Executive Director, Literacy Research Center and Clinic, and Associate Professor of Teacher Education, University of Wyoming


“Comprehensive and far-reaching, this fourth edition both represents and expands current thinking about the ways that literacy specialists can make a real difference in improving instruction for all students. The authors present rich research from multiple disciplines and draw connections to optimal leadership and coaching practices. With vignettes written by practitioners and a case study that develops across the text, the authors provide situated and timely guidance. Questions and challenges facing literacy specialists are explored in a manner that deepens the reader's understanding of different perspectives while building a 'can-do' approach to problem solving. Especially appropriate for teacher educators is the fourth edition's alignment with the ILA's Standards 2017. I highly recommend this text.”

—Victoria J. Risko, EdD, Professor Emerita, Vanderbilt University; past president, International Literacy Association