Roles and Responsibilities of the Instructional Coach

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Roles and Responsibilities of the Instructional
Coach

• Overview

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• Your role as an instructional
• coach is to
• provide and communicate a rationale about why
  the improvement of instruction is essential
• Katherine Casey

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The Craft of Coaching

• Role of the Coach
• Qualifications
• Coachs Compact
• Responsibilities of the Coach
• Coaching Continuum
• Coachs Schedule
• Collaborative Structures

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Qualifications

• Minimum of three years successful teaching
  experience in content area with appropriate
  certification (Reading, Mathematics, Science)
• Reading/literacy coach must be endorsed or K-12
  certified in the area of reading or working
  toward that status by completing a minimum of two
  (2) reading endorsement competencies of sixty
  (60) in-service hours each or six (6) semester
  hours of college coursework in reading per year
  (F.S. 6A-6.053)

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Qualifications

• Ability to work with administrators and faculties
• Ability to prepare and deliver presentations and
  workshops to varying audiences, including content
  area teachers and administrators
• Ability to provide coaching experiences in
  classrooms using the coaching model
• Exhibit knowledge of content area
• Demonstrate special expertise in high quality
  content instruction
• Ability to analyze data and use it to inform
  instruction

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Reading Coach Compact
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Mathematics Coach Compact
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Science Coach Compact
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• In an effort to make your job more
• focused and more effective, you
• should be moving from a provider
• of information to a learning partner with
  teachers

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An Instructional Coach Serves

• as a professional development liaison within the
  school to support, model, and continuously
  improve the instructional programs to assure
  academic improvement for ALL students.
• as a stable resource at the school site to
  support high quality implementation of
  research-based instruction.
• as a mentor in developing ideal content-rich
  classrooms

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A common goal guides a coach to support the
mathematics science, reading learning of all
students by supporting teachers to improve their
teaching of mathematics science,
reading. Marilyn Burns (2006)
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A Coaching Continuum

• Coaching duties take many forms including
• Facilitating Workshops
• ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
• Providing Demonstration Lessons Co-teaching
  Observing, Conferencing, and Debriefing
• ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
• Facilitating teacher self-discovery

The constant in all of these activities is that
they lead to better instructional practices and
higher student achievement
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A Coaching Continuum

• The activities listed on the next slide range
  from providing information in order to improve
  instruction, to giving teachers actual coaching
  to improve what they are doing, and finally, to
  helping teachers examine what they need and
  facilitating their development as master teachers

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Facilitate a study group to investigate common int
erest topics to improve instruction and
student achievement.
Facilitate action research to seek Resources
after reflection to improve instruction
and student achievement.
Confer, observe, and debrief to improve instructio
n and student achievement.
Co-teach with colleague to improve
instruction and student achievement based on
mutually agreed upon learning goals and
success indicators.
Provide an observation lesson to
improve instruction and student achievement
with feedback and collaborative input.
Facilitate a workshop or session to
improve instruction and student achievement
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Coaching Continuum
Confer, observe, and debrief
to improve instruction and student achievement
Facilitate a study group to investigate common int
erest topics to improve instruction and
student achievement
Facilitate action research to seek resources after
reflection to improve instruction
and student achievement
Facilitate a workshop or session to
improve instruction and student achievement
Provide an observation lesson to
improve instruction and student achievement
with feedback and collaborative input
Co-teach with colleague to improve
instruction and student achievement based on
mutually agreed upon learning goals and
success indicators
Highly directive
Highly reflective
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Roles and Responsibilities Aligned to the
Coaching Continuum

• Provide initial and ongoing professional
  development for classroom teachers via study
  groups and daily support.
• Planning, developing and/or preparing PD, lessons
  for modeling, coaching sessions, etc.
• Model effective instructional strategies for
  teachers and co-teach in classrooms to increase
  instructional density to meet the needs of all
  learners.
• Coach and mentor teachers in the classrooms which
  includes observing and providing feedback.

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Roles and Responsibilities Aligned to the
Coaching Continuum

• Conferencing with teachers regarding lesson
  planning, grouping for instruction, and
  intervention strategies.
• Coordinating, scheduling and facilitating student
  assessments.
• Analyzing student data to assist teachers with
  informing instruction based on student needs.
• Continue to increase your knowledge base of best
  practices in instruction and intervention.
• Maintain, organize and facilitate use of
  instructional materials and resources.

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Guiding Question

• How do each of these categories affect student
  achievement and lead to better instructional
  practices?

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Instructional Coach Schedule

• The District Curriculum and Instruction Framework
  for Successful Schools requires all coaches
• maintain a daily/weekly schedule
• have schedule accessible in an administrators
  office

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Guiding Question

• Does the data in your school justify how you
  spend your time?

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Opening the Door To Coaching

• Administrative direction
• Troubleshooting or problem-solving
• Follow-up to professional development
• Grade-level or department planning meetings
• Invitation or request

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Collaborative Structures
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The Challenge of Coaching

• Creating a feedback mechanism
• Clearly delineating outcomes
• Planning follow-up based on outcomes

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Successful Follow-Up Meetings

• Start with what is working and has gone well.
  This helps people see their progress and focus on
  success.
• Move to what has not worked so well by framing
  concerns or road blocks as
• How could I ..?
• Ask the person being coached to generate ideas to
  move forward, then select specific ones to work
  on.

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Follow-up Reflection

• . . . Follow-up is even more commonly
  missed when the coaching is about initiating
  alternatives. We are so relieved to have the
  meeting over with and the situation handled that
  we dont give a second thought to a follow-up
  meeting and we are always surprised when the
  situation does not miraculously resolve itself.
  It is at this point that we often blame the
  person we are coaching.
• Kathy Jourdain

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Characteristics of Coaching

• Supportive rather than evaluative
• Observation-based and focused
• Collects data agreed upon with the classroom
  teacher
• Shares ideas and practices
• Conversations are based on professional dialogue
  and revolve around teaching and learning issues.

• Interaction is collegial rather than competitive
• Relationship is dynamic and should focus on the
  teachers need
• Reduce isolation
• Transfer learning from theory to practice
• Assure a high quality implementation

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Non-Negotiables

• All instructional coaches must submit the Coach
  Compact to the appropriate subject area District
  office. 
• Ensure coaches are not the teacher of record and
  do not provide pull out instruction outside the
  context of providing professional development for
  teachers and do not teach more than 1 class.
  Exception being itinerant coaches who should not
  be given a class assignment.
• Instructional coaches (Mathematics, reading, and
  science) must provide their daily/weekly schedule
  in writing to a school administrator. The
  schedule must be kept in a binder in the
  administrators office.

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Non-Negotiables

• A school administrator must attend the
  instructional coach meeting and monitor the
  implementation of the Coach Action Plan.
• Instructional coaches must provide required
  Professional Development to school staff.
  Evidence should include agenda and attendance
  roster.
•  Maintain fidelity to the Pacing Guides.