FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 1
Field Expert Interview
Monica Gibson
School of Education, Liberty University
Field Expert Interview
Mrs. Amanda Bethea was chosen as the interviewee for this interview due to her unique
expertise and current role as a school administrator and literacy specialist. Mrs. Bethea has
been in education for 15 years, starting her career as an elementary school teacher where she
worked to advance in her profession, becoming a reading specialist. Currently, she holds a
Master of
Education (M.Ed.) degree in Language and Literacy and is currently finishing her degree as an
Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in Curriculum and Instructional Design. Additionally, with her work
FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 2
as a literacy specialist, Mrs. Bethea acts as the lead facilitator for our school’s Curriculum and
Instructional Coordinator for reading. Her experience is imperative to this research because she
manages and analyzes the administrative data of literacy achievement while providing coaching
sessions for teachers on the relational practice of reaching students prior to reaching the “cliff”
of complete disengagement.
Transcript
Question 1: Based on your professional perspective, what are the primary obstacles that
cause struggling young readers to transition to a place of becoming disconnected in their
learning?
Answer: “Unfortunately, the cycle of students becoming disengaged, especially in reading, can
begin as early as first grade. As a literacy coach, the data I observe regularly displays patterns of
barriers from various aspects, psychologically, emotionally, cognitively, and even
environmentally. Any of these factors or a combination of them can bring frustration to students
causing them to become disengaged in their learning and even retreat in their progress.”
Question 2: How does the quality of the teacher-student relationship affect students’
motivation to take academic risks in literacy?
Answer: “A strong academic relationship between teacher and student is the foundation to
fostering a positive classroom environment. It’s in this environment that teachers can create
opportunities for students to grow and develop. Students not only have shown progress
academically in positive classroom environments, but they also feel loved and valued by their
teacher. This is significant as it relates to helping build confident readers regardless of their
reading level.”
FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 3
Question 3: What are some reading intervention strategies that can help to build vocabulary
and comprehension skills for older elementary students that are high-interest and age
appropriate?
Answer: “Having experience in the classroom, I’m always advocating for students to be a part of
their learning experience. Therefore, when teachers are analyzing data to gauge how to
differentiate instruction for students’ needs, they should include the input of their students
when creating activities. This can ensure that the activities are high interest, it provides students
with a sense of choice and ownership in the classroom and helps to build rapport between
teacher and student as discussed in the previous question.”
Question 4: How do you encourage teachers to remain motivated when working with irate
students as a tactic to avoid reading?
Answer: “This is an important and very great question. As educators it’s important that we
understand how to separate between a student’s behavior from their character. I understand
that this is not always the initial reaction, however when coaching, I try to remind teachers to
look beyond the resistance and focus on small milestones of progression because this is what
helps to build resiliency. It also shows students the lengths teachers are willing to endure just
for the sake of our students.”
Question 5: How do you as an administrator, support balance in between mandates from the
district regarding deadlines that follow state testing and pacing guides?
Answer: “Finding balance is important in any section of life, especially so as it relates to
supporting our school community. Being an administrator means that I’m here to help support
teachers such as yourself, in the classroom to alleviate stress and provide academic suggestions
to use as a guide towards being proactive. Although the mandates are present, our focus is on
student achievement as well as the well-being of our teachers.”
FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 4
Question 6: How does the school intervention framework (MTSS) modify if a students’
academic data and behavioral data present that there is a need for both literacy and
emotional intervention?
Answer: “Great question. I believe that any framework that’s used for the support of educating
our students should be reviewed and reformed when its necessary for the specific needs. If a
student is classified as needing Tier 3 intervention, but is refusing to do work, then the Tier 3
intervention must pause so that we can tend to the social-emotional intervention that’s needed.
A school can implement the best literacy program in the world, but if a student isn’t emotionally
regulated enough to receive it, the intervention won’t work. Therefore, in my opinion we should
start the emotional intervention first.”
Question 7: How effective do culturally relevant books and learning materials help to
reengage young readers in literacy?
Answer: “Building relationships with students means recognizing their backgrounds. In and
outside of the classroom should reflect our students’ identities. When students can make
connections with books they read, it helps to bring a sense of belonging and help boost their
motivation to read.”
Question 8: As an administrator, when observing a classroom, what are some things you look
for in the classroom that determines if a teacher has created positive and safe environment
for students? Especially struggling readers?
Answer: “One of the things I like to pay attention to is how the teacher responds when students
make mistakes. Believe it or not, the teacher’s response in these moments sets the tone of the
classroom and engagement of students. I watch to see if a teacher’s response is geared to just
the right answer, or if it’s directed towards student effort. In a positive classroom environment,
students should feel safe to let their teacher know when they’re stuck, and it is the teacher’s
responsibility to facilitate learning creating these safe spaces for students to be vulnerable.”
FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 5
Question 9: If reading is a fundamental right for all learners, how can we encourage families
to recognize this concept for their student, and what role(s) do they factor in with re-engaging
students in their learning?
Answer: “The conversation focus must shift with parents and students. Instead of having
discussions with parents about what the data says and the improvements needed, the
conversations should proceed with the goal towards empowering students. We must educate
students and their families to help them understand the importance literacy takes part in, in
their lives. In doing so, the focus isn’t one sided in coming from the school, but in unison with
the school and students’ household. I believe family engagement is key to increasing school
engagement.”
Question 10: From your experience in current and previous roles, how would you integrate
the Science of Reading along with social-emotional to help reach the student who hasn’t
given up?
Answer: “Being that it requires both frameworks to be successfully integrated, I would
implement them in that manner. The Science of Reading will bring knowledge of what to teach
through explicit literacy instruction and integrating social-emotional learning will help to build
the relationships on how to teach the content.”
Conclusion
Conducting this interview has given me a deeper qualitative perspective in understanding
how unfortunately many young learners find themselves on the “cliff” of their learning.
Sometimes it’s hard to truly see things from a different perspective inside of the classroom,
versus other’s perceptions of the day-to-day routine. One key take away from the interview was
hearing the opinion of Mrs. Bethea’s response to question number 9. The role of families plays a
critical position towards re-engaging students in learning, because the school and family
household must unite for the re-engagement of learning to occur. From this interview, I now
FIELD EXPERT INTERVIEW 6
understand that this joint effort is key to helping redefine students’ perception of literacy as
their right, instead of an obligation. I plan to utilize the information from this interview to
further develop my topic by researching the connections between home and school to now
argue that to re-engage disconnected learners successfully, schools must collaborate with
families to restore self-confidence in literacy.
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