Coaching

1. Coaching • The New Leadership Skill Marek Beck mbeck@gcds.net Director of Professional Development Greenwich Country Day School

2. Agenda • Expert Testimonials • The Role of the Instructional Coach • Effective Coaching • The Coaching Cycle • Instructional Rounds

3. People don’t resist change; they resist being changed

4. Expert Testimonials

5. "Instructional coaching is one of the keys to translating research into effective teaching practices that enhance student learning. Effective use of trained instructional coaching also increases the school and district capacity for and continuity of crucial professional development."  "You don't change performance without changing the instructional core.  The relationship of the teacher and the student in the presence of the content must be at the center of efforts to improve performance."   "Coaching is the art of identifying and developing a person's strengths.             ~National Staff Development Council/Learning Forward, 2009          ~Richard Elmore, Harvard DataWise Institute         ~Differentiated Coaching for Teachers, Jane Kise          ~Richard Elmore, Harvard DataWise Institute

6. The Role of the Instructional Coach

7. A Coach Does... • build a trusting relationship with teachers • work in coaching cycles that address a narrow focus and enable the coach to spend significant time in a teacher’s classroom • support all teachers (e.g. master teachers, inexperienced teachers • facilitate mutual learning through reflective conversations with teachers (e.g. observations, demo lessons, student work, teaching dilemmas, lesson/unit planning, professional literature) • establish a coaching goal with a teacher and develop an action plan to achieve the goal • share a teacher’s coaching goal with the school administrator to ensure that the administrator understands the professional work the teacher is doing • revisit a teacher whose cycle has ended in order to ensure transfer • encourages teachers to take risks

8. A Coach Does not... • spread herself too thin that the effectiveness of her work is diluted • base coaching work solely on a deficit model • present herself as the “expert” • work on numerous topics with a teacher without a clear focus for the work • evaluate teachers

9. Effective Coaching

10. Principles • Equality • Choice • Voice • Reflection • Dialogue • Praxis • Reciprocity (Knight, 2011)

11. Actions • Enroll Teachers • Identify Teachers’ Goals • Listen • Ask Questions • Explain Teaching Practices • Provide Feedback (Knight, 2011)

12. The Coaching Cycle

13. 3 Step Process • Pre-Observation • During the Lesson • Post-Observation (Nidus, Sadder, 2011)

14. Instructional Rounds

15. How Do You DO Instructional Rounds? • Assemble a Network • Define the Problem of Practice • Observe in Classrooms • Debrief • Identify the Next Level of Work (City, 2011)

16. Why DO Instructional Rounds? • To Take Improvement to the Next Level • To Build a Common Understanding of Effective Learning and Teaching • To Reduce Variability • To Focus the Work • To Put Educators in Charge of Their Own Learning • To Provide Data and Inform Professional Development (City, 2011)

17. Discussion • Is there an effective model for coaching in your school? If not, how is your school providing systematic growth-producing professional learning experiences that is targeted towards whole-school initiatives and individual teacher’s needs? • What challenges exist with the instructional leadership at your school? What are your desired outcomes? Considering what is within your control, how can this be achieved? • Can you envision this type of coaching model at your school? Discuss.