Creating a Culture for Coaching

Essential Questions• What are the characteristics of an effective

instructional coach, what do they need to know and be able to do?

• How do instructional coaches build teacher capacity for selecting, implementing, evaluating the impact of HYIS and foster teacher reflection?

Why coaching? Why is it important?

The purpose of staff development is not just to implement isolated instructional innovations; its central purpose is to build strong collaborative work cultures that will develop the long-term capacity for change.

Michael Fullan

Recent Research Indicates That With Classroom Coaching,Implementation rates rise…85% - 90%

University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

Research on Instructional

Coaching

One of Our Most Valuable Resources…TeachersHere’s what we know:Teacher expertise accounts for more difference in student performance—40 percent—than any other factor. Ferguson (2001)

• Students who have several effective teachers in a row make dramatic achievement gains, while those who have even two ineffective teachers in a row lose significant ground. Sack (1999)

• Based on research in Texas, the importance of having an effective teacher instead of an average teacher for four or five years in a row could essentially close the gap in math performance between students from low-income and high-income households. Hanushek, Kain, and Rivkin (2001)

Teacher Impact Continued…• The difference in teacher effectiveness is the single largest factor affecting academic growth of populations of students. Sanders (2000)

• The differences in impact by the most effective teachers, the top one-sixth of teachers, can be 9 months or more, essentially a full year of learning. Rowen, Correnti, and Miller (2002)

And finally…#1 - Good instruction is 15 to 20 times morepowerful than family background and income, race, gender, and other explanatory variables. Hershberg (2005)

#2 - “It’s People, Not Programs” – Todd Whitaker There are really two ways to improve a school significantly:Get Better Teachers.Improve the teachers in the school.

Instructional Coaching…

• Builds capacity for effective instructional practices within specific content areas.

• Creates a partnership approach with teachers.

• “Customizes professional development to match each teacher’s needs and interests while they help the school establish a common understanding across all teachers.” (Sweeney, 2003)

What characteristics of an effective coach do you view in this video?

What are the characteristics of an effective instructional coach,

what do they need to know and be able to do?

How can IFs build a culture for coaching?Make connections and build

relationships – every person has their own story.

Build trust with teachers.Always begin with the positive.

“Raise the praise – minimize the criticize.” – Todd Whitaker

Be supportive, but don’t enable or condone ineffective behaviors.

Work with the teachers as colleagues.

Successful coaches exhibit…

Active listening when working with teachers

Candor – about one’s strengths (no bluffing, no arrogance)

Acknowledging upfront to have some - but not all - of the answers

Reflection – individually and with the teacher on teacher’s performance and specific needs

How can administrators build a culture for coaching?Create a shared team vision for

the schoolDevelop a shared understanding

of all teachers’ needs.Scheduled leadership meeting

times are encouraged.Support the coaching role of the

IF by communicating expectations to the staff.

Roles of an Instructional Coach

Ten Roles of a Coach

• Resource Provider

• Data Coach• Curriculum

Specialist• Instructional

Specialist• Mentor

• Classroom Supporter

• Learning Facilitator

• School Leader• Catalyst for

Change• Learner

Coaching’s Big Four

• Content

• Instructional Practices

• Assessment for Learning

• Classroom Management

Jim Knight, University of Kansas

Instructional Coaching…

LAST Instructional Strategy

Looks like…Acts like…Sounds like…Teach or tell someone about it…

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kwY__4W2PyskVRcXr7yjPJ_gNRIJ96lxjaH_JG39KSg/edit?usp=sharing

Where do we start?Just start.

Begin with most receptive teachers – new teachers, new to a content area/grade level, teachers that specifically request assistance and feedback.

Focus.

Review of High Yield Instructional Strategies

1. Similarities and Differences2. Summarizing and Note Taking3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition4. Homework and Practice5. Nonlinguistic Representation6. Cooperative Learning7. Setting Goals and Providing Feedback8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses9. Questions, Cues, and Advanced Organizers

Another focus area: Common Core Instructional Shifts

What is the expectation for instructional coaching?

The minimum expectation is one coaching session per day. Coaching will be documented weekly.

What constitutes a “coaching session?”Planning session, PLC, plan-observe-feedback-reflect with teacher, model lesson, scheduling time for teachers to observe master teachers, pulling resources, etc.

Evaluating Impact of Effective Teaching Strategies

Providing Feedback

Not evaluating teacher, but evaluatingthe effectiveness of the effectiveteaching strategies as evidenced by:

fidelity of implementation

impact on student outcomes.

Debriefing

The teacher and the coach meet to discuss:

• Degree to which students have mastered the learning outcomes

• Effective Teaching Strategies used by the coach/teacher (depending on if observation, model lesson, & or co-teaching stage)

• Instructional adjustments the teacher made during the lesson

Feedback

Goal of feedback is to improve currentsituations without criticizing oroffending.Should be:• Descriptive rather than Evaluative

(visible)• Specific instead of general• Given as soon as possible • Realistic• Positive

Warm Vs. Cool Feedback

WARM

• Supportive• Strength oriented• Focus on

solutions• Promotes

positive learning

COOL

• Impersonal• Needs oriented• Focus on the

problem• Provides

constructive criticism

Questions to Ask When Debriefing/ Providing Feedback

• What did you see? What was the focus on learning goals?

• What standard was being used and are the procedures and assignments appropriate?

• How will the student achieve according to the standard being addressed?

• What questions were being asked?• Did the lesson end with the focused

learning goals?

Continued…

• What ETS did you see incorporated in the lesson? Was the ETS presented with fidelity?

• What needs did you see?• What suggestions do you have for

teaching this standard?• How can we support the teacher for

future student learning?• How can you work together to

incorporate collaboration on this lesson?

How would you provide feedback to this teacher?

Teaching History

Reflection

“The teacher cannot rely on either instinct alone or on prepackaged sets of techniques. Instead, she or he must think about what is taking place, what the options are and so on, in a critical, analytical way. In other words the teacher must engage in reflection.”

John W. Brubacher, Charles W. Case, and Timothy G. Reagan

Reflection

• The teacher and the coach independently and systematically reflect on how their collaborative work fosters the development of the students’ understanding.

• Do this on an ongoing basis to re-examine goals so that there is a cycle of continuous improvement.

Questions to Foster Reflection

• What was I trying to accomplish?• How did I go about completing the

lesson and solving problems I had along the way (process)?

• What did I do well (strengths)?• What did I have difficulty with

(weaknesses)?• What have I learned/what would I do

differently?

Reflection Questions, cont’d

• What worked well?• What did we learn?• Did our conversations lead us closer to

our goals? How?• Did we focus on the lesson or on other

issues?• Did we do what we set out to do?• How can we improve on this to make

coaching collaborating on lesson plans more significant part of our work?

Data, Data, and More Data…

Are the students learning?

Coaches:assist teachers in the gathering and

analysis of formative assessment DATA about what students know and can do as they enter a learning experience

help teachers use the data analysis to design learning experiences at which students can be successful

train teachers in the ongoing use of formative assessment data.

The question we must teach teachers to ask is not did the students complete all the assignments and do their homework, but rather, did they learn what they were supposed to learn, did they retain it over time, and can they use it in ways that demonstrate understanding at a high level.

A Principal’s PerspectiveCoaching Successes – Beth

Lancaster

Essential Questions• What are the characteristics of an effective

instructional coach, what do they need to know and be able to do?

• How do instructional coaches build teacher capacity for selecting, implementing, evaluating the impact of HYIS and foster teacher reflection?

Concerns? Questions?