Level II Coaching Credential
Questionnaire
Directions: Please submit this completed Questionnaire with your Level II Credential Application. Begin by
reading through each of the scenarios and then respond to the questions within each scenario. As you answer
each question, consider the Colorado Core Competencies for Early Childhood Coaches. Your responses should
reflect your understanding of the Level II competencies. The scoring rubric at the end of this document describes
how your questionnaire responses will be scored.
Scenario #1:
Mary Jane is beginning her third year as an Early Childhood Coach. She currently is coaching at ABC Children’s Center
with Elizabeth, a toddler teacher who works with a group of five young toddlers. Elizabeth has appreciated that Mary
Jane always seems happy to be at the center and supports her visual learning style, for example by sharing handouts and
photographs with Elizabeth that have helped her to think about new ideas for the children and their environment. Two
months ago, Elizabeth and Mary Jane worked to set two goals for their work together. The goals are: 1) increase the
number of literacy experiences available by providing at least one each day, and 2) plan to meet the individual needs of
each child by developing at least one individual plan each week. On this visit Mary Jane has spent 40 minutes first
observing and then talking with Elizabeth about her coaching goals. Elizabeth shares that everything seems okay given
the circumstances. Elizabeth feels uncertain how to let Mary Jane know that things are not moving forward with her
goals so she does not say anything but she feels uncomfortable and stressed at not knowing what to do.
Mary Jane senses that Elizabeth is stressed so she does not ask her to clarify what she means by “given the
circumstances” nor does she ask about the fact that Elizabeth is stressed. Hoping to help her feel better, Mary Jane tells
Elizabeth she is doing a great job, the classroom looks great, and the children were really well behaved, and then she
leaves. On her way out Mary Jane stops into the director’s office to let her know how the coaching visit went. She tells
the director that, overall things seem to be going well, but that she would like to see Elizabeth spend more time playing
on the floor with the children and is worried as Elizabeth seems very stressed. Mary Jane did not tell the director that
she had not shared this information with Elizabeth.
NOTE: As you respond to the questions below, be sure to describe how the Level 2 Competencies are or are not present
in the coaching relationship scenario above. Responses need to include both the competency and a specific example of
how the coach demonstrates or does not demonstrate the coaching competency. In some cases you might describe
what the coach could do to demonstrate the competency. The goal is to describe an understanding of the coaching
competencies. For example, “The coach Tina demonstrates the competency of powerful questioning by asking
Kendra, the coachee, ‘Tell me more about your idea of adding additional motor experiences?’ Tina’s goal in asking the
question is to gain further understanding and clarity regarding Kendra’s ideas related to the additional motor
experiences that she mentioned when talking about goals.”
1. What are the strengths Mary Jane exemplified in this scenario?
2. What strategies could be used more effectively to co-create the relationship?
3. If Mary Jane were to revisit the Colorado Coaching Competencies, what aspects of co-creating the
relationship should Mary Jane be thinking about to improve her coaching relationship?
4. If Mary Jane were to step back, what communication strategies might she use that would lead to
better support of coachee’s self-expression?
Scenario #2:
It is early winter and Olivia is meeting with Lucy, a new preschool teacher with four months of experience.
Olivia’s plan is to check in on Lucy’s progress in reaching her goals that they developed when they started the
coaching partnership, including what success would look like for Lucy. Olivia notes that, based on her
classroom observations, there has been little to no progress as Lucy seems to be focused on getting through
each day’s crisis rather than implementing the strategies that Olivia has been suggesting she use. Olivia begins
the conversation with, “I remember back in early September how excited you were about planning for your
classroom and about the goals you set for yourself. Thus far, what progress do you see you’ve made towards
those goals?” Lucy replies that she has too many challenging children in the classroom and she can’t get to
her goals. Olivia reminds her that it is really important for her to reach her goals by the end of the school year.
As Olivia finishes her session with Lucy, she hands her a 6-month evaluation form to complete before the next
visit; this form evaluates Olivia’s coaching skills, as well as the knowledge and skills Lucy has gained from the
coaching sessions.
1. What are the strengths Olivia exemplified in this scenario?
2. What strategies might be used more effectively to facilitate learning and results?
3. Describe other ways Olivia might engage Lucy in an evaluation process.
Follow-Up Scenario:
Mary Jane and Olivia are involved in a bi-weekly reflective supervision group. Recent topics have included
improving communication and providing ongoing support for coachees in taking on new behaviors and
actions. They each have ideas about key things they missed in their most recent coaching sessions and realize
they have some work to do. As coaches they have both recognized that there were specific things that they
did not follow up on or failed to ask about. They both want to use reflection and communication skills.
Additionally they need to focus on facilitating learning and results as well as assessing the coaching
partnership.
1. In addition to strategies identified in the first 2 scenarios, how might Mary Jane and Olivia better
communicate with their coaches?
2. In addition to strategies identified in the first 2 scenarios, how might Mary Jane and Olivia provide
ongoing support for new behavioral actions?
Level II Questionnaire Description and Scoring
Demonstration of Competencies: The Level II Questionnaire is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of
the Level II Colorado Core Competencies for Early Childhood Competencies in the following Competency Categories:
 Establishing Trust with the Coachee
 Coaching Presence
 Active Listening
 Powerful Questioning
 Direct Communication
 Creating Awareness
 Planning & Goal Setting
 Designing Actions for Implementation
 Managing Progress & Accountability
 Assessing Coaching Practice
 Assessing Coaching Outcomes
Each question within the 3 scenarios must be answered, and all 11 Competency Categories must be used one or more
times in describing how the competencies are/are not present in the coaching relationships described in the scenarios.
Scoring for Demonstration of Level II Descriptions of Competencies:
The presence/absence and quality of the descriptions of application of the competencies will be scored on a scale of 0-2
as described in the rubric below
Points assigned to Description of Each Competency
(Refer to the Colorado Core Competencies for Early Childhood Coaches)
0
Limited Description
1
Adequate Description
Description of each
Competency
Little to no
Some description using at
description or
least one example
competency not
included
Maximum possible points (2 points x 11 competencies) =
2
Strong Description
Total Points for each
Competency Category
Thorough description
using multiple
examples
2
22
Total maximum points for the Questionnaire = 22. Applicants must receive a minimum of 18 points and have no
competencies missing for the Questionnaire to be considered for the Level 2 Credential. If an applicant’s Questionnaire
does not earn enough points for a Level 2 credential, the applicant will be given 60 days to revise and resubmit the
Questionnaire or complete the Level I Questionnaire for a Level I Credential.
Competency Categories
1. Establishing trust with the coachee
2. Coaching presence
3. Active listening
4. Powerful questioning
5. Direct communication
6. Creating awareness
7. Planning and goal setting
8. Designing actions for implementation
9. Managing progress and accountability
10. Assessing coaching practices
11. Assessing coachee outcomes
Scoring
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total Points for Competencies
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Total Points
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2