Register and Sign-in Grab some coffee With the people at your table:

1. Register and Sign-in • Grab some coffee • With the people at your table: Discuss your experiences with coaching • Welcome Activities

2. U.P. MTSS Conference Supporting Coaching Across the Cascade: Systems and Practices Guest Presenter: Tanya Ihlo, Ph.D. October 27, 2015

3. Group Expectations To make this day the best possible, we need your assistance and participation Be Responsible • Attend to the “Come back together” signal • Active participation…Please ask questions Be Respectful • Please allow others to listen • Please turn off cell phones • Please limit sidebar conversations • Share “air time” • Please refrain from email and Internet browsing Be Safe • Take care of your own needs

4. Housekeeping SCECHs Facility Logistics Find an elbow partner for discussion activities

5. Today’s Agenda Setting the Stage Coaching • What it is • Rationale • Research Translating Research into Practice Building an Infrastructure for Coaching Next Steps

6. Intended Outcomes By the end of the day, participants will be able to: • Distinguish between system level coaching and practice level (instructional) coaching • Understand the unique factorsthat impact coaching in rural settings and ways to maximize available resources • Recognize the key features and components in building the infrastructure for instructional coaching • Identify next steps in the development of a coaching plan matched to the (district or building) stages of implementation

7. Setting the Stage

8. Michigan’s Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative (MiBLSi) provides a statewide structure to create local capacity for an integrated behavior and reading Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) that can be implemented with fidelity, is durable over time and utilizes data-based decision making at all levels of implementation support. MiBLSi

10. Intensive Intervention • For few students • Universal Prevention • For all students • Targeted Intervention • For some students Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) Intensity of intervention based on student need All students in school

11. Key Elements of MTSS Universal Screening Data-Based Decision Making and Problem Solving Continuous Progress Monitoring Continuum of Evidence-Based Practices Focus on Fidelity of Implementation George Sugai, 2008

12. Stages of Implementation Should we do it? Work to do it right! Work to do it better!

13. Turn & Talk What is your experience with MTSS? Consider: • How you support MTSS • The stage of implementation that your organization is at • Academics, behavior, or both

14. Training: Present material to develop new knowledge and skills Coaching: Provide support on-site [to teams] for using the new knowledge and skills under typical conditions First Distinction: Training vs. Coaching Two Different Functions Rob Horner, 2014

15. Just say “No” to “Train and Hope” React to a problem Wait for a new problem Select and add a practice Hope for implementation Hire an expert to train

16. Systems Level Coaching • Work with a team to build local capacity for problem solving • Help to build the infrastructure Practice Level Coaching • Work to improve instruction with “first responders” • Focus on building knowledge and skills What Type of Coaching?

17. Communication Reinforcement Organization Technical Assistance Participation in Leadership Team Activities Deepening Personal Knowledge of Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) Critical Features of Systems Level Coaching

18. Build local capacity • Become irrelevant…but remain available Maximize current competence • Never change things that are working • Always make the smallest change that will have the biggest impact Focus on valued outcomes • Tie all efforts to the benefits for children Guiding Principles for Effective Coaching

19. Which Track Are You On?

20. Supporting Coaching Across the Cascade: Systems and Practices Tanya Ihlo, PhD University of Nebraska-Lincoln

21. Today’s focus • What is coaching? • Rationale for coaching • Research on coaching – various coaching models • A coaching study in rural settings: Project READERS • Translating research into practice: Lessons learned and suggested considerations for coaching • Building an infrastructure for coaching

22. What is coaching?

23. What is instructional coaching? • Coaching aims to reinforce teachers’ development of evidence-based instructional strategies and apply these desired skills in relevant instructional contexts (Fixsen et al., 2005) • “A strategy for implementing a professional support system for teachers, a system that includes research or theory, demonstration, practice, and feedback” (McKenna & Walpole, 2008) • Instructional coaching is a research-based, job-embedded approach to instructional intervention that provides the assistance and encouragement necessary to implement school improvement programs. (Knight, 2008) • Instructional coaching is a systematic approach to providing support for teachers with the focus on directly improving skills/quality of instruction and in turn, results for students

24. Coaching assumptions • Teachers, principals, all adults in schools as capable of changing practices – people can learn, change, and improve • The instructional methods teachers employ influence student achievement • There is considerable variation in the methods teachers use and in the quality of teacher implementation • Consistent implementation of empirically-validated instructional methods is key • Coaching can help teachers implement specific methods and abandon others; coaching can help teachers improve the quality of their work • The effects of coaching can be gauged by changes in student achievement as a result of this altered practice Adapted from McKenna & Walpole, 2008

25. Rationale for coaching

26. Successful Student Outcomes Program / Initiative Set of practices that are implemented with fidelity Feedback Coaching Resources • Adaptive Organization Competency Training Technical Integrated and Compensatory Information Decision Support Data System Selection Leadership Facilitative Administration Vision Management/Coordination Adapted from Fixsen & Blase, 2008

27. 10% 5% 0% 30% 20% 0% 60% 60% 5% 95% 95% 95% Joyce & Showers, 2002

28. Some hypotheses on why professional development often fails • Lack of focus guiding decisions about selection of professional development opportunities • Lack of quality of PD to begin change in practice – PD on a program, strategy, practice should include a majority of time spent on practicing and receiving feedback • Lack of clear expectation and monitoring for application of learning taken from a training or workshop • Lack of plan for on-going follow-up support

29. Considerations before planning or attending professional development opportunity • Setting criteria for professional development: • Does it align to an identified need or focus? • Does it provide content and development of instructional skills that have a high likelihood of improving results for students (based on research)? • Can we plan for/have the resources to provide support to lead to deep implementation that includes clear expectations for implementation, follow-up support, and monitoring of implementation using clear indicators of use?

30. Think-Pair-Share • How are decisions about professional development typically made at you site – either what’s attended or what’s provided? • If you are typically a participant, what might need to change in your decision making process • If you are a provider of PD, consider how you determine what to provide and how you can assist potential participants in planning ahead of time to increase the likelihood of implementation

31. Research on coaching

32. Need for more empirical evidence supporting coaching • Lack of randomized trials studying impact of coaching on student outcomes • Difficult to isolate coaching effects • Most studies focus on teacher outcomes (e.g., perceptions, knowledge, practice) • Varying definitions of coaching and no common key components of coaching identified

33. Additional research needed • Effectiveness of various coaching strategies and when they should be used • Which coaching strategies may be effective in different modes • One-to-one interaction, small, or large groups • Distance • Dosage of coaching – if frequency and duration of interaction has an impact • Development and validation of tools to measure coaching effectiveness

34. Promising practice • Even with continued need for research, coaching is a promising practice • Identified as a key driver for building competency • Research on various coaching models

35. Some common coaching models • New teacher mentoring/coaching • Cognitive coaching • Peer coaching • Content- or subject-specific coaching • Instructional coaching

36. New teacher mentoring/coaching programs Typical characteristics • Districts provide several days of initial training for new teachers and assign a coach/mentor to meet with and possibly observe the new teacher throughout the year • Establishes a relationship between a new teacher and a seasoned educator from the district Impact/issues with mentoring • Generally fail because they tend to reproduce the status quo • A downfall is the flexibility • Doesn’t typically specify exactly how the mentor will provide support • Typically doesn’t involve use of systematic coaching strategies

37. Cognitive coaching Typical characteristics • Coach meets with teacher for a planning conference to: • Have the teacher identify goals, • Collaborate with the teacher to choose evidence that goals are met, • Facilitates discussion of strategies that might help the teacher achieve the goal, • Establish a self-assessment net • Coach observes teaching and gather evidence to document use of the strategies • Coach and teacher reflect Impact/issues with cognitive coaching: • Encourages relationship building and reflection on teaching • Does not specify anything about what or how to teach – may not select appropriate goals or research-based strategies • Positive results on teachers knowledge, perceptions, and practice • More rigorous research needed to draw conclusions regarding Impact on student achievement

38. Peer coaching Typical characteristics • Varying definitions and models of peer coaching • Teachers act as coaches for one another • Coaching teams meet to discuss goals, develop specific lesson plans, and observe one another • Teacher is the coach teaching/modeling the lesson, the observer is being coached by observing and no feedback is provided Impact/issues with peer coaching • Unlikely to be perceived as threatening, inexpensive to implement, creates cohesive relationships with instructional team • Evidence of effectiveness in impacting teachers’ use of strategies • More rigorous research needed to draw conclusions of impact on outcomes for students • Often relatively few quality controls on implementation of the strategy: • Are there meaningful goals being set? Do observers know what to look for, know if it's happening or not? How do you know teachers are best models?

39. Content- or subject-specific coaching Typical characteristics • Subject specific coaching (e.g., Math, literacy) • No set of common behaviors or practices Impact/issues with content- or subject-specific coaching • Some potential positive results, however, research is not rigorous enough to draw conclusions

40. Instructional coaching Typical characteristics • Focused on instruction • May include examination of use of various instructional strategies, planning and preparation, behavior management, use of student data, content of instruction • Popular clearly-defined model – Jim Knight Impact/issues with instructional coaching • Positives results found from some preliminary studies; most results are teacher related • Need more research examining impact on student achievement • Follows a systematic process • Many practitioners and researchers use the term instructional coaching, but don’t use the same processes or key characteristics – further definition required

41. Studies of coaching in practice How coach time was spent • Time identified as a key challenge for coaches (Bean & Zigmond, 2006; Schwartz & McCarthy, 2003) • Coaches from RF schools spent 28% percent of their time actually coaching K–3 teachers (Duessen et al, 2007) • Coaches in Delaware spend only about 15% of their work week working directly with teachers (Roller, 2006) • Coaches in Tennessee reported working long hours, but spent the majority of their time tutoring children, conducting intervention groups, and assisting with school/district tasks (Thigpen)

42. Why was coach time not spent in coaching? Defined role & process • When the coach role is vague and there is no systematic coaching process • Focusing on work directly with students; allowing themselves to get pulled into unrelated work; struggling with resistance Readiness • The majority of coaches were strong teachers who demonstrated mastery of content and pedagogy • While content and pedagogy are foundational knowledge for a coach, there are many more skills and capacities required for working with adults • Most coaches receive little professional development

43. 5 categories of coaches • Data-oriented • Student-oriented • Managerial-oriented • Teacher oriented – Group • Teacher oriented – individual (Duessen et al., 2007)

44. Think-Pair-Share School/district teams & individuals • If you currently have coaching in your district/school, which categories do your coaches most typically fall into and why do you think that is? • If most of the coaching is not teacher-oriented (individual), why do you think that may be the case? ISD • Which categories do you currently support in schools and why do you think that is?

45. Project READERS

46. Evaluating Professional Development with Distance Coaching for Early Reading RTI • This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s • Institute of Education Sciences, award number R305C090022

47. Project Contributors Principal Investigators: Todd A. Glover, PhD, & Tanya Ihlo, PhD (University of Nebraska) Edward Shapiro, PhD (Lehigh University) Project Managers: Michelle Howell Smith, PhD (University of Nebraska) Stacy Martin, PhD (Lehigh University)

48. Additional Project Contributors Coaches: Denise Burbach, April Green, Lyn House, Patty Smith, Meghan von der Embse, and Shelly Wright Coaching Consultants: Sara Kupzyk and Danielle Parisi Graduate Research Assistants: Whitney Strong, Julia Roeling, Laura Jackelen, and Mackenzie Sommerhalder Project Staff: Kelsey Baldrige, Erin Brown, Stacy Hecker, Arah Kleinschmidt, Junjie Liu, Molly McLaughlin, Wei Wang, and Rebekah Whitham Methodological Collaborators: Jim Bovaird, PhD, Carina McCormack, and Charong Wu Previous Project Managers: Fran Chumney, Michelle Hammack, and Sara Kupzyk

49. Project READERS • Response to Effective Assessment Driven Early Reading Supports

50. Project Rationale • Majority of students with reading difficulties in 3rd grade continue to be poor readers in 9th grade (e.g., Francis et al., 1996) • Identifying all students’ needs and intervening early is critical to ensuring students’ success in school (Torgesen, 2009; Wanzek & Vaughn, 2007) and to promoting social justice • Many schools have begun to adopt a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) approach for the early prevention of reading difficulties • Within an RTI framework, teachers: • Use data to identify students at risk of reading difficulties • Plan, implement, and evaluate instruction and interventions to promote student reading