A literacy coordinator is also a public relations expert concerning the importance of reading in schools. She will speak at PTA and community meetings to emphasize the results of an effective reading program in the school. People who work outside the educational field or who have no children in school may not know that successful readers are more likely to attend college, become and stay employed and positively impact their own communities in the future. As a school/community liaison, the literacy coordinator may request community and parental support in the implementation of reading activities.
One of the major roles of a literacy coordinator is to help classroom teachers in a variety of ways. New teachers will need guidance to understand the school's reading program and how to implement it on a daily basis. The coordinator will observe all reading teachers and give them constructive feedback on how to improve certain components of the program or to praise them for success. As a facilitator, the coordinator tries to find resources like supplies, computer programs and instructional material for the teachers so they can devote most of their time to the students.
A school's literacy coordinator is also a consultant to the entire teacher body. Since reading is an imperative skill in all subject areas, a literacy coordinator will be asked to train teachers in all subject and grade levels to incorporate comprehension strategies in their daily lessons. The coordinator should be well-versed in the latest research concerning teaching methods as well as in demonstrating them for educators.
The literacy coordinator is also a teacher. She may not teach students, but will instead educate parents about reading instruction. The classroom teacher is also responsible for communicating with parents, but a reading specialist like the coordinator can more fully explain the school's specific goals for children at each grade level. They can also decipher the highly technical teaching terms about reading like "fluency," "reading interventions" and "phonemic awareness." The literacy coordinator can inform parents of things they can do at home to help their children become better readers.