Literacy is a foundational skill involving the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute, and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts and text types. The North Tonawanda City School District Literacy Collaborative Model involves a continuum of learning in which school-based Literacy Coaches are trained in research-based methods, through the Ohio State University Literacy Collaborative, and provided with ongoing professional development as they continually implement research-based approaches in their own classrooms and work closely with teachers in providing direct, research based instruction to guide students in acquiring strategies for maintaining fluency, text comprehension, and vocabulary development. Phonemic awareness and phonics instruction are also provided as students engage in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Using this framework, instruction moves from demonstration and explicit teaching to guided practice and then to independent problem solving. The goal of this comprehensive effort is to significantly raise the level of achievement for all students.