CRANSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

845 PARK AVENUE

CRANSTON, RI 02910

Roles and Responsibilities 

of the Literacy Specialist 

Revised August 2025

MONITOR

• Monitor the implementation of the school’s literacy and intervention needs
• Monitor student achievement and improvement in literacy with the intent of moving all students towards grade level standards
• Meet and plan with classroom teachers or academic teams on a regular basis (Common Planning Time) supporting improvement in classroom instruction
• Maintain records of assessments (formal and informal) 
• Confer with parents and students to interpret individual student progress and set learning goals
• Meet with the principal on a regular basis to discuss the progress of the literacy and intervention needs of the building, provide recommendations for building level needs through School Improvement process, ongoing professional development initiatives, modeling/ coaching sessions, lesson study, looking at student work, and other relevant grade level meetings
• Assist with data analysis, progress monitoring, and providing diagnostic and prescriptive measures to facilitate the RTI process   

LITERACY LEADERSHIP/INSTRUCTION

• Use approved, high-quality curricular resources for lessons and interventions
• Provide direct literacy instruction as a co-teaching model, targeted instruction through small groups, and/or pull-out model
• Facilitate the integration of literacy across the curriculum within a core content area for targeted instructional delivery
• Promote and organize reading and writing incentive programs on a school wide basis
• Co-plan, model and support teacher acquisition of literacy skills and strategies as through the Science of Reading/ Structure Literacy 
• Facilitate Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by planning and modeling lessons, correlating current and alternative resources, and providing feedback to teachers and principal on progress of transition
• Serve as a resource to the principal and staff by providing information on current research on highly effective evidence-based literacy instructional strategies, including the Science of Reading/ Structured Literacy
• Serve as liaison between Cranston’s Literacy Department, administrators and building staff
• Provide job-embedded professional development in class as lead teacher, team teacher, and coach 
• Create materials and conduct parent workshops in literacy to foster parent engagement and support literacy at home
• Work in collaboration with special educators, MLL specialists and other support staff to support the literacy needs of those teachers and students

ASSESSMENT

• Screen new students using district assessment measures
• Assess students on an ongoing basis to progress monitoring their learning towards grade level expectations
• Work with the building-based Multi-Tiered System of Support Team to address literacy needs by providing Tier II and Tier III instructional support and administer assessments to determine areas of needs, provide instructional support, progress monitoring as required, set goals and data track with the student, and report out intervention effectiveness
• Interpret literacy assessments for classroom instruction and intervention support
• Maintain testing inventory, disseminate, collect, and prepare materials for scoring or evaluation purposes  
• Interpret and evaluate school and classroom assessment results in terms of student proficiency and progress; make recommendations for building level needs providing input on the School Improvement team