How to Support Teachers in Delivering Effective Literacy Instruction

A guide to supporting teachers effectively

As a literacy consultant, I often see schools with fantastic intentions—high-quality resources and a well-planned curriculum—but inconsistent literacy outcomes. The missing link is often support for teachers: professional development, coaching and structured guidance. Improving literacy isn’t just about what students do in the classroom—it’s about ensuring teachers have the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver instruction that truly makes a difference.

Here’s a practical guide for English leaders on how to support teachers effectively.

1. Understand Teacher Needs First

Before planning training or coaching, start with a clear understanding of where your teachers are:

• Collect classroom evidence: learning walks, work samples and formative assessment data.

• Ask teachers directly: Surveys or focus groups can uncover areas of confidence and concern.

• Identify patterns: Are multiple staff struggling with a particular area e.g., comprehension, vocabulary or phonics?

This ensures that support is targeted, not generic—a key factor in professional development impact.

2. Use Evidence-Based Approaches

Effective literacy instruction depends on research-backed strategies. Professional development should focus on practices that improve reading, writing and comprehension. Examples include:

• Explicit teaching of reading strategies: Modelling inference, clarifying, summarising, making links, questioning, evaluating and predicting.

• Structured phonics instruction: Especially for early readers or those catching up.

• Explicit Writing Instruction: Explicit teaching, modelling, guided practice and structured feedback.

• Writing across the curriculum: Embedding literacy skills in all subjects.

• Vocabulary development: Teaching tiered vocabulary in context rather than in isolation.

Professional development should model these approaches, allowing teachers to see them in action.

3. Coaching and Collaborative Models

Coaching transforms knowledge into practice. A few approaches that work well:

• Instructional coaching: One-to-one support where a literacy coach observes, models and provides feedback.

• Peer observations and collaborative planning: Teachers learn from one another, reflect on practice and co-develop strategies.

• Lesson study cycles: Teachers plan, teach, observe and refine lessons together, guided by data and student outcomes.

• Short, focused CPD sessions: Frequent, bite-sized training is often more effective than long, infrequent workshops.

 The key is ongoing support, not one-off training sessions.

4. Link Professional Development to Student Data

Teachers need to see how their practice impacts learning. Connect professional development to evidence:

• Use literacy data to identify areas for targeted support.

• Track the impact of new strategies on reading fluency, comprehension or writing skills.

• Celebrate small wins—when teachers see improvement in student outcomes, motivation and confidence increase.

Data-driven coaching ensures that professional development isn’t theoretical—it’s directly tied to results.

5. Create a Culture of Reflection and Growth

Supportive literacy leadership isn’t just about teaching strategies—it’s about culture:

• Encourage reflective practice: What worked? What didn’t? Why?

• Promote risk-taking: Teachers should feel safe to try new approaches.

• Recognise progress: Highlight improvements, both small and large, in staff meetings and one-to-one feedback.

When teachers feel supported rather than judged, they’re more willing to adopt new strategies and improve outcomes.

6. Provide Practical Tools and Resources

Support should be actionable:

• Share high-quality lesson plans, prompts or writing exemplars.

• Curate resources for scaffolding: help teachers meet the range of needs presented within their classroom.

• Offer templates for tracking progress, planning interventions or assessing comprehension.

Tools save teachers time and allow them to focus on teaching effectively.

Focus Area Actionable Tip

Needs Analysis Observe, survey, link to student data

Evidence-Based Strategies Phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, writing

Coaching One-to-one coaching, peer observations, lesson study

Data Link Use assessment data to target CPD and track impact

Reflection Encourage reflective practice and celebrate growth

Tools Provide ready-to-adapt lesson plans, templates, exemplars

Key Takeaway

Supporting teachers in literacy is about coaching, collaboration and connecting professional development to student outcomes. By understanding teacher needs, providing ongoing support and creating a reflective culture, English leaders can ensure literacy instruction is consistent, effective and impactful.

At Empowerment Consultancy, we support English Leaders to ensure literacy instruction is effective. By focusing on coaching, targeted professional development and reflective practice, we can help you create a school-wide approach to literacy that is consistent, effective and sustainable. Together, we can ensure every teacher succeeds and every student thrives.