A Continuing Learning Community of Practice The Work of Coaches

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A Continuing Learning Community of Practice
The Work of Coaches
Coaching for School Growth
Supporting All Educators
A. Coaching Teaming Processes (collaborative and leadership teams)
B. Coaching for Professional Performance (individual educators)
1. Specific Technical Assistance for Individual Teachers
2. Induction: Mentorship and/or Coaching of Beginning Teachers
Though coaches are quite knowledgeable in many areas, continuous school improvement is an area
in which they may not have had training. Fortunately, coaches are eager learners and are skilled in
reflective practice and action research that are foundational components of coaching for school
growth. In an effort to provide coaches with the knowledge and skills to facilitate and support
continuous improvement, Coaching for Learning leadership will provide a year-long professional
development and networking experience guided by the six (6) levers of the West Virginia
Continuous Improvement Process.
Guided by the Coaching for Learning curriculum/trainings, coaches will put their learning into
practice at their respective schools (learning-by-doing). They, in turn, will support school teams
with learning the structures, processes and attitudes necessary to make changes throughout the
school aimed at increasing student learning. The coach is the person “on the ground,” in the school
on a day-to-day basis, and over time strategically introduces a collection of tools, processes and
practices for teams and individual teachers to use.
Depending upon the current reality of the school(s) in which the coach is assigned, the coach may
need to assist with the process of creating the foundational structures for collaborative teaming.
Over time, the coach will gradually decrease his/her participation in the team meetings once the
process has been crystalized and capacity has been built.
Coaching for School Growth through the Continuous Improvement Process
A Snapshot of Coaching for School Growth:
Coaching for School Growth combines the complex skills of creating partnerships, establishing
trusting relationships and facilitating instructional growth in the entire school organization. The
respective roles of transformation coaches and instructional/academic coaches often overlap in the
Coaching for School Growth model. Traditionally, academic coaches have played a rather narrow
role in schools, working primarily one-on-one-with another teacher. This work is important, and
coaches can be instrumental in developing the skills of individual teachers. But, if foundational
structures for collaboration are put in place, coaches’ work can have unmistakable impact in
supporting the transformation of an entire school.
Coaching for School Growth is a “side-by-side” partnership approach where the coach facilitates
collective dialogue and often works with the leadership team. Together they interpret school-wide
student performance results to identify root causes and then collectively decide next steps [SMART
goals] and how to measure them. Next, using data, the coach works with teacher collaborative
teams to address the critical questions of teaching and learning [DuFour] by: 1) engaging teams in
the improvement cycle (determine current reality, plan, do, monitor and adjust); 2) engaging teams
in the learning-by-doing (collective inquiry) process; and 3) increasing the introduction of
improvement strategies slowly but steadily.
The Process:
Through focused listening and looking at data, the coach identifies short and longer term “wins”
and recognizes the need to start realistically. The coach stays the course, working with simpler
parts of the whole element(s). The collective efforts and learning of the teachers increase in scope
and impact. Once the continuous improvement process has been embedded in the work of the
school teams, student achievement increases and the school culture subtly changes, morphing into
a continually improving learning community. The following cultural changes become inherent:
1. Increases in staff efficacy, motivation, skill and sustainability
2. Decreases in retraining and need for external coaching assistance
Where the coach begins depends on the leadership team’s determination of the school’s current reality:
A. Promoting School-wide Growth—Addressing School Culture
The coach leads activities to discover underlying beliefs and attitudes that drive the decisions and
behaviors that are the school’s culture (who they are). Hard data about such things as student
achievement, together with the perceptive data collected from teachers, students and parents, are
used to compile the current reality of the school. The coach is careful not to try to tell the school
who they are or where they are, but instead introduces the process and suggests activities with
data whereby educators can discover and draw those conclusions themselves. It is also important
for a coach to never tell a teacher or team what or who they should be, but instead the coach
facilitates activities/scenarios that lead to conversations and a process of discovery.
B. Promoting School-wide Growth—Working with the School Leadership Team
The coach helps a school that is in need of the foundational components create the necessary and
logical structures to work and solve its own problems through a focused, research-based, agreed
upon process. Initial work is accomplished through the school leadership team that:

studies the best working structure for teaming and creates collaborative teacher teams
(school-wide) –Every staff member is on a team
•
manages the continuous improvement process and creates the plan – including reallocation of resources—Plan is revisited often and revised as the data indicate

schedules data workshops to:
o navigate the continuous (cyclic) improvement process using authentic data
o discuss the process of addressing the critical questions of teaching and learning
through the learning-by-doing approach (increasing in scope as staff
experiences efficacy)
o write school SMART goals
C. Coaching Collaborative Teaming Processes
The coach supports teacher collaborative teams as they meet to discuss student achievement
results and plan next collective action(s) that might include:

shared agreement regarding protocols for addressing the critical questions of teaching
and learning [adapted, DuFour]

shared agreement regarding the core instruction for a lesson or unit of instruction and
student specific instructional strategies (targeted instruction)

shared formative assessment ideas—measure student learning on a frequent and timely
basis

determining next steps—what to do about the results brought to the meeting—what
action research to do and bring back to next meeting
D. Providing Technical Assistance to Individual Teachers (toward an identified goal)

instructional strategies (core; targeted; intensive, enrichment)

classroom management in terms of delivery of instruction

assistance with any aspect of addressing the critical questions of teaching and learning
Coaching for Learning Curriculum
(Guided by the 6 Levers of the West Virginia Continuous Improvement Process)
1. Creating Community – develops relationships and collaborative partnerships; practices skillful and
intentional listening; displays a consistently trustworthy and credible demeanor (i.e., promotes
team-building and forming a school-wide community of practice; continually works to improve
professionally and to accomplish what is expected of their assigned role)
2. Establishing Focus and Coherence – seeks strategic, data-based focus; fleshes out the most
important; steers away from overload; connects instruction to well-developed goals (i.e., leads
others to use data to understand needs, establish goals, and monitor progress)
3. Supporting Change – engages educators in transformational learning (change) and/or additive
learning (implementation of strategies or skills); anticipates resistance; uses reflective questioning;
is facilitative, not demanding (i.e., provides technical assistance with strategies and practices leading
to highly effective teaching that includes technology integration)
4. Building a Collaborative Culture — facilitates collaboration through teaming processes; focuses
efforts on continuous improvement; promotes consistent collection, analysis and utilization of data
as well as systematic documentation (i.e., supports the effective use of teams in the continuous
improvement processes—time/team structures and addressing the critical questions of teaching and
learning [adapted, DuFour])
5. Maximizing Capacity – promotes collective leadership and data-informed decision making; supports
team leaders with teaming processes and effective questioning techniques; encourages
accountability through transparency of practice; provides descriptive feedback and technical
assistance designed to improve professional performance (i.e., promotes reflective practice
protocols including strategic, specific descriptive feedback, technology integration and follow-up
critical conversation; gradually increase the scope and intensity of the staff’s collective efforts and
learning
6. Growing Professionally – continues to learn through data-based reflective coaching practice and
networking with peers through a community of practice; models a culture of learning (Year-long PD)
**While coaches’ manner of conducting themselves when relating to those with whom they are
working has a more direct implication in the “Creating Community/How to Coach” realm, it is
continuously threaded through the other levers as well.
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