Schools have all kinds of coaches, but the St. Louis Public School District is putting a new twist on the concept. In an effort to raise dismal reading scores, the district has nearly 100 literacy coaches to help children not only learn to read better, but take more pleasure in reading. The private firm that has been hired to run the district is pushing an emphasis on reading as a blueprint to improve overall test scores. A key to the plan is to emphasize reading, no matter the course. The literacy coaches often give one-on-one help to stuents struggling to read. Using the coaching concept is part of the “Literacy Initiative,” which also inclludes testing reading levels every 10 weeks and encouraging students to read 25 books each.
