"Reading Coaches Cut From Budgets" (Lakeland, FL Ledger, 02/08/09)

At the height of the state's push to improve reading, more than 2,500 reading coaches worked in Florida schools.

But just when students started reading better - 60 percent read at grade level in 2008 compared with 50 percent in 2004 - budget cuts may slash the number of reading coaches by more than half, leaving many schools without one.

"Coaches help lift up literacy in schools" (IndyStar, 01/29/09)

Coaches -- also called literacy teachers and literacy coordinators -- train teachers about reading strategies so students better understand what they're reading, retain the information and achieve a higher level of thinking.

Middle School Reading Coaches Found to Build Teachers' Skills

NCTE member Nancy L. Shanklin and the NCTE/IRA
Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse are mentioned.  Education
Week, September 11, 2008

Florida Reading Coaches Help Other Teachers; Effect on Students Unclear"

A recent study of Florida’s middle school reading coaches finds that they seem to have a positive effect on how teachers teach reading.