GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS AUGUST Introduction to Coaching

Introductions Get in groups of 3-4 and respond to following questions (be prepared to share): 1) Schools/Role/Secondary or Elementary? 2) What do you hope to get out of these meetings? 3) How comfortable are you with your new role? 4) Any apprehensions? 5) What are your top 3 goals for the next two days?

Goals What do we want to accomplish over the next two days?

Agenda Introductions/Welcome Goal Setting What is coaching? Coaching activities Foundations for school-wide implementation Problem-solving roadblocks Action Planning

District Implementation of RTI and PBS Put in description of the district goals here…..

School-Wide Support Systems for Student Success Universal Prevention Core Instruction, all students, preventive, proactive Targeted Intervention Supplemental, some students, reduce risk Intensive Intervention Individualized, functional assessment, highly specific

SYSTEMS PRACTICES Information Supporting Staff Behavior Supporting Decision Making Supporting Student Behavior OUTCOMES Social Competence, Academic Achievement, and Safety

Leadership Team Funding VisibilityPolitical Support TrainingCoaching Evaluation Active Coordination Local School Teams/Demonstrations

Effective practices are only as good as systems that support adults who use them. Focus on the redesign of learning environments to promote teaching & learning. Durable implementation requires unwavering & dedicated commitment to “working smarter.” Major Themes of Implementation

Coaching Rationale: If school leadership teams are to be successful, structures and routines must be in place to assist, prompt, encourage, and monitor their progress as they develop, implement, and evaluate their school-wide system. Why do we need coaches?

Definition of coaching capacity: Coaching, or facilitation, capacity refers to the system’s ability to organize personnel and resources for supporting local school training and implementation efforts.... The emphasis is on coaching roles, responsibilities and activities. Efficiencies are achieved by integrating the coaching functions into job descriptions of existing school personnel... Coaching Capacity

Coaches are Leaders in their districts Effective communicators Individuals with expertise in data analysis Content experts in behavior and reading support Relationship builders Keepers of the vision Capable of staying focused on….

Coaches Facilitate the problem solving process for schools Share content knowledge with the goal of developing local expertise Teach, Encourage, Support, Guide, Cajole, Beg, Plead, Weep, all in the interest of moving schools toward the goal of all children reading and the development of good social skills

Improving Decision Making Problem Solution To Problem Solving Solution Problem From

Why is Coaching Important? Team start-up support Team sustainability/accountability  Technical assistance/problem solving  Positive reinforcement  Prompts (“positive nags”) Public relations/communications Support network across schools Link between trainers & teams Local facilitation

Who should be a coach? Internal vs External  Internal coaches are employed in the school where they provide support  External coaches are employed outside the schools where they provide support (e.g. by district, region, state).

Internal vs. External Coaching Internal CoachExternal Coach AdvantagesKnowledge of school Staff relationships Regular access Independent Outside perspective Multiple schools experience DisadvantagesConflicting roles Narrow range of experiences Limited knowledge of school Limited relationships Less frequent access

Coaching vs. Training Coaching involves active collaboration and participation  Small group  Build from local competence  Sustainable  Hands on

Coaching Activities

There are no quick fixes… Thinking is Required” - David Tilly (2007 )

Commitment of Coaches Team Support  First Year ( 1-2 teams) (participate in training and planning)  Second Year ( Maintain initial teams, start 3-5 teams)  Future Years ( teams total ) FTE commitment  15-25% Roles/Background  Behavior Specialists, Special Education Teachers  Consultants, Administrators  School Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers

Areas of Coaching Impact Team Start Up Team Sustainability Technical Assistance Public Relations Statewide support network Local Leadership

What Coaches Do Dissemination of outcomes and effects  Within school  Across district  With state leadership SWIS Facilitation  Implement and support use of data-based decision making.

What Coaches Do Work with team during initial training Meet with new teams monthly on-site Telephone/ contact as needed “Positive” nag  Self-assessment (EBS Survey, Team Checklist)  Action planning  Activity implementation  On-going evaluation  School self-evaluation efforts  State-wide Initiative evaluation efforts (SET) Guide State-wide initiative  Feedback to Leadership Team

1. Verify facilitator role with Coordinator 2. Review facilitator role with Principal 3. Review status of team: principal, grade level representatives, special educator, counselor, parent, classified staff members (Committee Review) 4. Ask team to bring discipline data, behavior incident reports, office discipline referral forms, school discipline policy, procedures for teaching school-wide behavior expectations, procedures for encouraging SW expectations, DIBELS, CSI Maps etc. 5. Review tools and DATA: Team Implementation Checklist, EBS Self-Assessment Survey, PET Prior to Training…

During Team Training 1. Remind team of facilitator role 2. Let team lead process 3. Keep team on task & reinforce progress 4. Remind team of big ideas from presentations 5. Prompt outcomes: Team Implementation Checklist, Team Action Plan, PET

1. Acknowledge/reinforce principal & team for progress at training 2. Prompt team to  Meet & review PBS purpose & action plan with staff  Collect school data  Meet w/in 1 month  Complete Assignment 3. Contact team leader 2x in first month & ask  What is planned  if assistance needed 4. Attend team meeting 1x month 5. Monitor & assist in development & completion of action plan After Training…

Assist Teams in Using Data for Decision-making Help teams understand outcome data (DIBELS/CBM, ODR) Help teams understand system data (Team Checklist, PET-R) Most importantly, help team make decisions based on the data

Effective Coaches Are skilled at individual student behavior and academic support practices  Functional assessment, person-centered planning  Behavior support plan design  Academic interventions  Evaluation, adaptation and support Are knowledgeable about School-wide PBS systems/ Literacy

Guiding Principles for Effective Coaching Build local capacity Become irrelevant…but remain available Maximize current competence Never change things that are working Always make the smallest change that will have the biggest impact Focus on valued outcomes Tie all efforts to the benefits for children

Guiding Principles for Effective Coaching Emphasize Accountability Measure and report; measure and report; measure and report. Build credibility through: (a) consistency, (b) competence with behavioral principles/practices, (c) relationships, (d) time investment. Precorrect for success Celebrate

Self-Assessment Complete the coaching self-assessment independently Determine your three greatest strengths and areas for improvement Be prepared to share to a group

Self-Assessment Action Plan  What can you do to increase coaching skills?  What can the district do to facilitate the development of these skills?

Foundations of School-wide Interventions

Leadership Team Develop a school-based leadership team that will “guide” implementation This team should include:  Administrator  General Education Teachers  Special Education Teachers  Coach  Other stakeholders

Committee Audit Must work smarter, not harder Whenever something new is added, something must eliminated… Although a team-based process is essential, creating a new team may be difficult Begin to complete the committee audit form for one of your schools

Initiative, Committee PurposeOutcomeTarget Group Staff Involved SIP/SID/ etc Attendance Committee Increase attendance % of students attending All students Eric, Ellen, Marlee Goal #2 Character Education Improve character Student behavior? All students Marlee, J.S., Ellen ?? Safety Committee Improve safety All students Has not met?? School Spirit Committee School spirit All students Has not met Discipline Committee Improve behavior Improve discipline All students Ellen, Eric, Marlee, Otis Goal #3 DARE Committee Decrease drug use All students Don?? SWPBS Work Group Implement 3-tier model Office referrals, Attendance, Grades All students Eric, Ellen, Marlee, Otis, Emma Goal #2 Goal #3

Initiative, Project, Committee PurposeOutcomeTarget Group Staff Involved SIP/SID/ etc Attendance Committee Character Education Safety Committee School Spirit Committee Discipline Committee DARE Committee EBS Work Group Working Smarter 1.Eliminate all initiatives that do NOT have a defined purpose and outcome measure. 2. Combine initiatives that have the same outcome measure and same target group 3. Combine initiatives that have 75% of the same staff 4. Eliminate initiatives that are not tied to School Improvement Goals.

At your schools… 1) Complete the committee audit 2) Determine if your leadership team can be integrated into another committee 3) Create a leadership team

Roadblocks to Implementation

Every implementation has people who  Have never tried what is being proposed  Can tell you 100 reasons why it won’t work Indeed, some of them seem to project the following concepts into your implementation…

Multiple competing initiatives Low implementation priority Low staff commitment/agreement Lack of administrative leadership Inefficient operation & decision making Lack of behavioral capacity (knowledge & fluency) Non-data based decision making Poor implementation accuracy & durability …… Team Implementation Challenges

Types of Roadblocks Systems 1) Administrative Support 2) Resource Allocation 3) Data Use 4) Ineffective/inefficient team structure 5) 6) Practices 1) Fidelity of Implementation 2) Philosophical Differences 3) Priorities 4) 5)

Skills Deficit “Can’t do” Lacking the skills, knowledge, experience to perform the desired behavior Performance Deficit “Won’t do” Has the skills, knowledge, experience but lacks the motivation to perform the desired behavior Why don’t implementers (or students) do what we want?

Preventing Roadblocks Administrator support and active involvement Team-based process Report to entire staff on a regular basis Establish buy-in with a minimum of 80% of staff

Understand implementer perspectives Reinforced for referring to special education Tend to attribute student problems to internal disposition and home causes which equals no power

Skills to establish trust and rapport Listen attentively Paraphrase for shared understanding Ask empowering questions Validate and appreciate

Empowering Questions  Ask empowering questions that are open-ended, non-judgmental questions.  Open-ended questions are an important opportunity for critical feedback. They can guide personal inquiry and reflection for professional growth and improvement.  Validate and appreciate to focus on the positive and make statements in the positive.  Statements are specific and reflect what is valued by the other person.

Be prepared to take an active part Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you.  John Wooden Coaches should be able to provide hands on demonstrations and model what is required.  Training  Tools  Support

Roadblocks Anticipate roadblocks Pre-correct for roadblocks Typically, it is best to address systems roadblocks first

Summary Coaching is a rewarding role Make everyone else around you more effective Help the team make the main ideas fit their students, culture, setting, families Focus on long-term impact.