1. EARLY GRADE READING STUDY
Ms Dorothy Molapo
Instructional Reading Coach
24 October 2018

2. COACHING HISTORY
A highly experienced, confident, adaptable, motivated coach, a specialist in Foundation Phase Coaching of teachers in EFAL and Setswana.
Been in the teaching field from 1982 to 2006.
2012 – 2014 GPLMS coach
EGRS 1 coach
2017 to date EGRS 2 coach
An excellent coach must have an intense knowledge of content teaching experience coupled with passion, patience, creativity, ability to convey knowledge, consistency and must be self-driven.

3. COACHING CONTEXT Province Mpumalanga District(s) Ehlanzeni District
Subject (s) coached
English First Additional Language
Grades Supported
2017 : Grade 1
2018 : Grade 2
Number of Schools
2017 : 16
2018 : 16
Number of Teachers
2017 : 33
2018 : 29

4. COACHING RATIONALE
Coaching specifically aligned to a programme comprised of:
Daily and weekly routines
Core methodologies for all content areas
CAPS aligned lesson plans
Assessments and rubrics
Reading materials (Big Books & Graded Readers)

5. MODALITIES OF EMPLEMENTATION
AVERAGE COACHING HOURS PER TERM
School
Approximately 5 hours per teacher per term
Individual teachers in a school
Approximately 90 minutes per teacher per day (including a short feedback)
2 – 3 visits per term (Good to Average Teacher)
3 – 5 visits per term (Average to Struggling Teacher)
Groups of teachers in a school
Approximately 2-3 hours in the afternoon after every visit (6 – 9 hours per term)
Start of term workshops
Term 1: Teacher and SMT training for 2 days at a central training venue. The training is based on the core methodologies in the lesson pans
Terms 2 – 4: 1 day training, based on sustainability and being able to master core methodologies

6. AVERAGE COACHING HOURS PER TERM
COACHING DOSAGE
AVERAGE COACHING HOURS PER TERM
Afternoon workshops
6 – 9 hours per term per school (School-based Workshops)
Other communication
WhatsApp messages per cluster: 2 – 3 messages per week
WhatsApp messages for SMTs : About 1 in 2 weeks

7. COACHING PROTOCOLS- What is unique?
What the coach does during school visits.
Meet the principal, HOD and observe a Grade 2 EFAL lesson.
Ask for relevant books and records, including a short summary of lesson preparation, tracker, personal file and a few learners’ books.
Check the walls (especially display boards) in relation to the lesson conduced.
Carefully watch the teacher conduct the lesson and refer to Core Methodologies
Check and sign learners’ work.

8. COACHING PROTOCOLS- What is unique?
How does a coach help monitor teacher progress.
The coach writes remarks in the Evaluation Form
The coach and the teacher discuss the remarks. The coach gives advice, makes suggestions and recommendations.
The teacher writes her own remarks and her way-forward. They both go through the remarks made at the previous lesson to check improvement.
Each teacher has a personal observation book wherein the coach pastes a copy of the Evaluation Form.
The coach conducts demos at the school-based workshop after each visit.

10. COACHING RECORDS What records do I keep?
- Names of schools allocated to me
- Names of teachers’ and statistics per school, including SMTs
- Learners’ statistics (in a particular grade)
- Teachers’ scheduled and follow-up visits
- Observation Books
- Curriculum coverage records
How do I know if teachers are progressing or not?
- I use the Observation book to check the teachers’ progress.
- Learners’ response during the lesson
- Performance during Assessments
- Learners’ books also give a true reflection.

11. COACHING OUTCOMES
‘Critical friend’ relationship firmly established and operational
Coach recognised as professional presence in schools
Teachers more skilled at teaching reading
Teachers know how to manage their classrooms (including reading resources)

12. Display boards

13. COACH COMPETENCY AND TRAINING
How do you improve as a coach?
Review all Train the Trainer sessions
Be well-acquainted with the lesson plans and core methodologies
Hold discussions on classroom application
Keep the teachers and SMTs abreast of new developments
Manage and institute remedial procedures where necessary
What professional development are you provided with?
Attend Train the Trainer sessions at the beginning of every term
Relevant resources
Hold monthly meetings with the Quality Assurance Manager

14. Multi-modal forms of coaching (combining the two)
RESEARCH GAPS
Replicating coaching excellence at scale
Multi-modal forms of coaching (combining the two)
Developing professional coaching cadre
Capacitating HOD’s to take over the support role