The Who, What, When and Where of Coaching

Finding the clues... Who...State administrators, districts, and local school team coaches What...A coaches role, whether state, district, or local, is to build the capacity of the school When...Constant communication and support are vital to building capacity and a strong implementation partnership Where...Coaching can be done online or in person; Coaching comments should be entered in to the tool to preserve the history

Who The Coach’s role in an indicator-based, continuous improvement process is always to… build the capacity of the school team to function within a culture of candor, accurately determining the level of implementation of effective practices, striving toward universal and consistent practice. The Coach serves the school best when helping the leadership team… understand the meaning of each indicator, gather information necessary for an accurate assessment of current practice relative to the indicator, plan improvement, and monitor results until the team is assured that the practice is fully implemented across the school.

What Basic Guidelines for a coach include: 1. Ensure Effective Teaming Know when the Leadership Team is meeting and remind the Principal and Process Manager to prepare and distribute the agenda, worksheets, Wise Ways, and rubrics (if the State provides rubrics). This may require phone calls and emails as well as coaching comments. Help the Team function as a “professional learning community.” 2. Reinforce the Indistar Work When visiting the school, review the Leadership Team’s work by entering the system with the Team and discussing what has been done and what lies ahead. Note upcoming reporting dates. Review Summary Reports and Task Reports. 3. Leadership When visiting the school, meet with the Principal and Process Manager to review Indistar procedures and the Leadership Team’s functioning. Leadership and participation by the principal is essential. 4. Entry of Work Remind the Principal and Process Manager to enter the Leadership Team’s work during the Leadership Team meeting or immediately after. 5. Routine Entry of Coaching Comments Enter coaching comments after each Leadership Team meeting and at least twice a month. 6. Integration of Programs Help the Leadership Team integrate other programs and responsibilities within the Indistar process. Because Indistar focuses on professional practice rather than programs, it supports implementation of all good programs.

When How much time you have to devote to coaching truly varies from state to state, and position to position. But whether you are full time or part time, every coach should be looking at the work that their school’s are doing on a regular basis. A school can not build capacity alone. You are a critical partner in the process and in their success. Being in regular communication with your team(s) will ensure to them that they have support to move forward and guidance when they get off track.

Where Coach in person Coach online Join the team meetings as often as you can Stop in and review the plan with the principal Coach online On a regular basis, keep track of the school’s progress Use coaching comments and/or reviews to send suggestions, encouragement and reminders

Where...Coaching Review (School level Coaches and Districts)

Coaching Review Reports Summary Report...overall summary report of all work, information and activity that a school or district has completed. Comprehensive Report...detailed report of all assessments, plans and monitoring information. Comments & Reviews...Coaching comments, reviews and responses; history and ability to send or respond anew. Task Report...detailed list of all tasks created. Where Are We Now...overview of a school or districts plan, in graph form. Team Meetings...detailed agendas and meeting minutes as entered by the school or district. Quick Score Report...a quantitative rating summary of the school’s progress, based on key factors within the tool.

Coaches should move through each tab, checking. 1. Recent activity Coaches should move through each tab, checking... 1. Recent activity....login activity, meetings and agendas, Steps 1-6 recent activity, chart progress in the Where are we now Report. 2. Quantity of work...has the school or district completed what is expected of them? Summary Report has a list of recent dashboard submissions as well as an indicator count for the assessing and planning pieces. 3. Quality of work...in the Comprehensive Report, the coach will be able to see levels of implementation as well as evidence provided for each indicator or objective 4. Responses to Coaching Comments or Reviews Coaches should provide feedback using the Coaching Review and/or Coaching Comments.

Examples of Evidence (Quality)

Examples of Evidence

Examples of Coaching Comments Comment 1...Coach is posing a question to the team, however, a few more details might have come in handy. For example...when will the team discuss this? Who will discuss? How will the team use this information in the tool? Comments 2 and 3...Coaching comments are not meant as ‘minutes’ of a meeting. This feature is for coaches, again, to communicate support and suggestions to the team. A coach may summarize the meeting but needs to also provide follow-up.

Examples of Coaching Review In the first example, you will see a detailed list of items to address. Coaching comments should be suggestive, supportive and informational. In the second example, you will notice this is a ‘feel-good’ comment, which is no less important than one with lots of evidence. It may not contain areas of change or focus, but it is supportive and encouraging!

Additional Resources for Coaches Academic Development Institute has created several supporting documents for coaches and schools. They can be found at www.indistar.org under Indistar Resources.

Don’t forget these important qualities of a coach... -Self-responsible and self-challenging -Good listener -Comfortable with discomfort -Willing to take risks and make mistakes -Good model for respect and partnership -Non-defensive -Continual learner -Ability to clarify vision and concepts -Consistent -Pioneering spirit and long-term perspective -Dialogues with colleagues -Encourages others -Facilitates involvement of others

Contact information: For general questions, please contact... For technical assistance, please contact Stephanie Benedict sbenedict@adi.org