“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”: One Literacy Coach’s Story in an “Underperforming” High School

The purpose of this study was to examine the viewpoint of a literacy coach at a local high school who is a key stakeholder in a long term, community engaged scholarship partnership with a state university located in the southwestern United States. Community engaged scholarship and sociocultural theories of literacy served as epistemological lenses to guide this study. Utilizing the methodology of intrinsic case study, data collected for this study included interview transcripts, observation field notes, and artifacts such as assessments written by the literacy coach for teachers to utilize as practice for the state standardized test. Since language was the primary source of data for this study, In Vivo coding was utilized in data analysis. From this analysis, three key codes were identified: (1) positivity, (2) authority figure, and (3) what comes next. These codes are explored in detail to offer insights into keys for cultivating sustained school-university partnerships. Implications for future research are discussed and include the need for additional studies on secondary literacy coaches, particularly within the context of community engaged scholarship, as there is a clear gap in this area.

Embargo status: Restricted until 09/2028. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.