1. Coaching Critical Feature: Technical Assistance
Coaching Critical Feature: Technical Assistance
Catherine Claes
MiBLSi Content Development Specialist
Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District Consultant
November 2, 2011.

2. “The concept of a coach is slippery
“The concept of a coach is slippery. Coaches are not teachers, but they teach. They’re not your boss – but they can be bossy. Mainly, they observe, they judge, and they guide.”
Atul Gawande

3. Intended Outcomes for the Session
Participants will gain an understanding of the critical component of coaching: Technical Assistance
Participants will identify examples of Technical Assistance
Participants will identify how Technical Assistance support changes as schools/districts progress through the Stages of Implementation
Participants will build a plan of support for one school/district in the appropriate Stage of Implementation

4. Agenda Coaching Critical Component: Technical Assistance
Description
Examples
Tools for Technical Assistance Support
Stages of Implementation
Review
Gradual Release of Responsibility/Scaffolding
Examples of Technical Assistance Support at Each Stage
I Do It – Exploration
We Do It – Installation
You Do It with your group – Initial Implementation, Elaboration, Continuous Regeneration
You Do It independently – Choose a school or district
Reflections/Wrap-up

5. Technical Assistance: Description
Technical assistance provides guidance to move forward through stages of implementation in a purposeful skill building process to allow for the gradual release of responsibility from the coach to the team while ensuring the building of capacity. This may involve specific suggestions for action planning and task completion. Coaches may need to model a data-based decision making process or may need to provide help with specific implementation tools such as conducting assessments and using this information in action planning. This may also involve the coach as a “performance technologist” in identifying and addressing performance problems regarding implementation of the identified practices with fidelity.
Provide this description to participants. With partners have them highlight the verbs, the actions. Then have the partners talk about the details of the doing.
Debrief as a group…using chart paper, or a document camera, list the verbs and the detail of the action:
Providing guidance
Model data-based decision making

6. Technical Assistance: Examples
Assist with the use of practice profiles and systems/process/fidelity measures to communicate critical features of implementation that are urgent and a priority based on student outcome data and translate into specific action items or implementation plans
Provide scaffolded supports to assist the team in getting started and staying on track with data/systems/and practices for implementing a multi-tiered model of supports. For example:
Model the use of data for decision making when meeting with leadership teams
Prompt and guide team through the use of data for decision making
Provide systematic feedback to the team as they use data for decision making
Read through the examples with your partner. Have a quick discussion of the examples/tools you have experience with and what is new to you.

7. Tools for Technical Assistance Support of Implementation
Assessment Binder
Practice Profiles
Team Implementation Checklists
Grade Level Team Meeting Facilitator Guides
Follow-up Activity Worksheets
Behavior Matrix
Tier 2/3 Tracking Forms
Flowcharts for Process Outcome Measures, SWIS, and Universal Screening
Committee Audit
Start the School Year Checklist
Daily and Component Intervention Fidelity Form
And many more!!!!

8. Stages of Implementation
Exploration/
Adoption
Installation
Initial Implementation
Development Commitment
Creating the systems and materials to prepare for implementation; Set Up Data Systems
Elaboration
Provide Significant Support to Implementers
Continuous Regeneration
Embedding within Standard Practice
Improvements: Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness
Keep in mind that as we provide technical assistance across the stages of implementation, we should be scaffolding the leadership teams to independence…always releasing more and more responsibility to the team and away from us.
As you coach through the stages, there is a gradual release of responsibility from the coach to the team…build independence and you build capacity!

9. Coaching through the Stages
Up-Front Coaching: Trust and Relationships
Building Common Knowledge & Experience
The ongoing foundation for a professional learning
Committing to a learning relationship – grow together
I Do – We Do – Debrief
Beside Coaching: Risk-Taking
Coach – Builds co-thinking
Coach – Builds capacity
Team - Transitions to guided practice w/ coaching support
I Do – We Do – You Do Together – Debrief
Behind Coaching:
Coach – Refines and builds independence
Guided practice with coaching support (you do together)
Team refines implementation with coaching feedback
I Do – We Do – You Do Together – You Do - Debrief
. Guide/Direct = Depending on the level of consensus and skill you might have to do more one one or the other When you 1st enter a building you are doing a lot of up front coaching. Very deliberate with upfront coaching. Step Zero is essential. Teams are asking a lot of “What ifs” at upfront coaching stage. Upfront coaching you are doing a lot of “I Do” and maybe a little “We Do”. After upfront coaching you move to side coaching. There is a shift of responsibility. Debrief with schoolbased leadership team. Last, behind coaching—gradual release at this stage. They got better at “gradual release”. Initially they build dependency by accident. Coaching stages are very relelvan.
Upfront
Side by side or beside
Behind (gradual release responsibility).
Amelia’s schools used to say, “Oh Amelia wants us to do this, she responded No, that’s not how you present to your staff”

10. Gradual Release of Responsibility
. Guide/Direct = Depending on the level of consensus and skill you might have to do more one one or the other When you 1st enter a building you are doing a lot of up front coaching. Very deliberate with upfront coaching. Step Zero is essential. Teams are asking a lot of “What ifs” at upfront coaching stage. Upfront coaching you are doing a lot of “I Do” and maybe a little “We Do”. After upfront coaching you move to side coaching. There is a shift of responsibility. Debrief with schoolbased leadership team. Last, behind coaching—gradual release at this stage. They got better at “gradual release”. Initially they build dependency by accident. Coaching stages are very relelvan.
Upfront
Side by side or beside
Behind (gradual release responsibility).
Amelia’s schools used to say, “Oh Amelia wants us to do this, she responded No, that’s not how you present to your staff”

11. Gradual Release of Responsibility
COACH RESPONSIBILITY
LEADERSHIP TEAM/TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
Modeling
Guided Practice
“I do it”
“We do it”
“You do it
together”
Collaborative
Independent
alone”
Fisher, D., & Frey, N.
. Guide/Direct = Depending on the level of consensus and skill you might have to do more one one or the other When you 1st enter a building you are doing a lot of up front coaching. Very deliberate with upfront coaching. Step Zero is essential. Teams are asking a lot of “What ifs” at upfront coaching stage. Upfront coaching you are doing a lot of “I Do” and maybe a little “We Do”. After upfront coaching you move to side coaching. There is a shift of responsibility. Debrief with schoolbased leadership team. Last, behind coaching—gradual release at this stage. They got better at “gradual release”. Initially they build dependency by accident. Coaching stages are very relelvan.
Upfront
Side by side or beside
Behind (gradual release responsibility).
Amelia’s schools used to say, “Oh Amelia wants us to do this, she responded No, that’s not how you present to your staff”

12. Technical Assistance during Exploration
Establish rapport, trust, & relationships
Provide learning experiences – Build knowledge
Ask Questions
Answer questions
Promote thinking
Understand political agendas/dynamics
Anticipate barriers
Provide leadership, gentle pressure, & support
At this point, you may utilize various articles to build knowledge, use the website to build understanding of the MiBLSi/RtI model, teams may complete a Committee Audit, and Braiding Initiatives to determine how RtI compliments other initiatives.
Exploration/Adoption
Building Awareness
Assessing Potential Match
Developing Commitment
Deciding to Adopt
During this stage schools or ISD’s may be asking “Should we do it?”
What does technical assistance look like during the Exploration/Adoption phase?
Technical assistance may be:
deepening the knowledge of the potential stakeholders,
showing examples of how this is working in other locations
establishing rapport, trust and relationships
provide learning experiences to build stakeholder knowledge
ask questions that promote thinking and problem solving
answer questions as needed
promote thinking
understand underlying dynamics of stakeholders, policy makers, leaders, and teachers
anticipate and and precorrect for potential barriers
provide leadership, gentle pressure, & support as you nudge the team forward, don’t let them get stuck!
**This is the “I do it” example, so have this one filled in already!

13. Technical Assistance during Installation
Creating the systems and materials to prepare for implementation; Set Up Data Systems, Structural Supports in place
This is the “We do it” activity. Have this slide, or the activity sheet copied off and complete this one using the document camera.

14. Activity With your table discuss your given Stage of Implementation
Come up with examples of what Technical Assistance could look like at that stage. What tools might you use?
Be prepared to share out to the group

15. Planning Technical Assistance
Activity
Planning Technical Assistance
Think of the schools/districts you currently support and choose one to be the focus for your planning
What stage of implementation is that school/district currently working through?
What activities would provide Technical Assistance to move this school/district forward?
What tools would be appropriate to use to accomplish the work?

16. Reflections & Wrap-up With your partner share
One way you have provided technical support to your schools
One way you can improve the technical support you provide to your schools
Share the plan of technical support you developed

17. “There was a moment in sports when employing a coach was unimaginable – and then came a time when not doing so was unimaginable. We care about results in sports, and if we care half as much about results in schools and in hospitals we may reach the same conclusion.”
Atul Gawande

18. SB-CEU Information
The code for Critical Feature of Coaching: Technical Assistance session is
___________
Please visit the survey station in the lobby during lunch, breaks, or after the last conference session.