Instructional Coaching
With the understanding that teaching is a complex craft;
With the belief that anything that benefits teachers also has high payoffs for students;
With the belief that teaching and learning is collaborative and that drawing on our collective strengths makes us better;
With the belief that this collaborative learning strengthens veteran and new teachers alike:
At MRPS, Instructional Coaching is a non-evaluative, collaborative process between an educator and a coach to enhance instruction. In this process–often called a Coaching Cycle–educators/teams and coaches draw on their respective areas of expertise to identify a goal, select a strategy to work towards that goal, engage in practice, reflect on their progress, and plan the next steps.
The Coaching Cycle
A coaching cycle is a formal process where an educator/team and coach work together to:
gather data to set an instructional goal
identify strategies from research
pick one strategy to try over a series of weeks
collect data again after implementation to document success
identify next steps
Roles Coaches Support
Administrators
Classroom teachers
Instructional Assistants
Interventionists
SEL Professionals
Special Educators
Examples of Coaching Opportunities (not limited to)
Facilitation of Meetings
Walk Throughs
Goal Setting
Data Analysis & Communication
Lesson Study, Implementation & Reflection
Curricular Resource Unpacking / Implementation
Classroom Management
Proactive / Collaborative Problem Solving
Support and Communication with Students
Instruction with Small Groups
Other Opportunities
Rationale
“Does one-to-one coaching—helping a teacher set goals and providing tailored feedback to enhance teaching—improve teachers' practice? Researchers Matthew Kraft and David Blazar…found that coaching improves the quality of an educator's practice as much as a decade of experience in teaching. Coaching, they estimate, has a more positive effect—in terms of improving teachers' abilities to deliver content and concepts—than traditional PD methods.” ~ Research Alert: Instructional Coaches Got Game, Educational Leadership, 2018.
Testimonials
“I have gained so much from participating in coaching cycles throughout this school year. From support in improving the flow of my classroom set up, to tips for how to pace a mini-lesson, and even creating literacy lessons together. Thank you coaches, for providing a flexible and low-stress/high payoff experience!” ~ MRPS Teacher
"Being a math interventionist has brought up so many questions about particular groups or individual students and the content that we are working with. Having a coach who is always willing to jump into problem solving mode with suggestions on what next steps will make the content clear and the learning meaningful has helped to make sense of stuck points for either me in my teaching or my students in their acquisition of understanding." - MRPS Interventionist
“The coaching cycle this year helped to improve both planning of instruction and strategies to help give more protected reading time to learners. The guidance given was direct, thoughtful, and encouraging.” ~ MRPS Teacher
"I thought the students had demonstrated understanding of multiplying fractions through visuals and concrete examples but when I asked them to generalize their knowledge at the next level, there were a few missing pieces and misconceptions. It was helpful to have a coach observe a lesson and then ask me questions to figure out where to go the following day. Together we worked through a couple problems with the students, asking questions and digging deeper to find and correct the misconceptions. Coaching allowed me to take a step back to see the bigger picture when I was not sure where to go next." MRPS Special Educator
Meet the Coaching Team
