Ways to Provide Coaching

By Rachel Romero
Coordinator of Small School Support & Instructional
Coaching—Southeastern California Conference

Finding opportunities to support and grow our teachers may be just as unique as our schools. From a large academy to a small one-teacher school, instructional coaching can help us intentionally plan for effective instruction, increase teacher confidence and motivation, and ultimately improve student achievement.

Consider existing relationships and how time is used during the regular school day for coaching opportunities. Identify a lead teacher (or teachers) that would support teams of two or three for weekly goal setting, coaching conversations, and planning. For example, peer coaching collaborative teams could be adopted during the weekly faculty meeting. Begin by developing your lead teachers in coaching conversation protocols and skills, but train everyone in what is expected of them during peer coaching time (i.e., equal partnerships and shared goals, healthy communication and active listening, reflective inquiry questioning, confronting difficult topics). Need more peer coaches? Reach out to an administrative colleague at one of our schools and collaborate in training and facilitating time for peer coaching video calls for regular and ongoing feedback.

As part of the coaching cycle, be prepared to facilitate peer observations (video recording or in-person visits) at least a few times a year. Provide a simple rubric or checklist of what peer coaches can look for and a few pre-/post-observation questions for them to discuss together (Goodwin & Taylor, 2019).

Just as teachers are our students' greatest resource for achievement, our leadership behaviors are instrumental in growing teacher capacity. Education leaders agree that although administrators may not have time to move through a complete coaching cycle, a coaching approach is still possible. Being a principal-coach embodies the characteristics of a lead learner—interested in listening and learning for improvement. Here are four coaching behaviors that a principal could adopt (Knight, 2018):

• Treat your teachers as partners. During coaching conversations, trust your teachers to choose what is best for their students while respecting their autonomy. According to research, teachers are more likely to implement what leaders share in this approach.
• Listen more. Talk less. Listen for understanding and be present. Be patient, avoid interrupting, affirm those who have shared with you, and mute your distracting inner voice. A good listener looks for deeper meaning beneath what is being said.
• Ask powerful questions. Effective questioning is at the very heart of coaching. Ask open-ended questions to help you better understand your teacher's thinking and focus the conversation. Questions like, "What's on your mind? ", "And, what else?" or "What is the real challenge here for you?" are a few examples (Stanier, 2016).
• Engage in dialogue. "When we listen to our conversation partners, ask good questions, and position them as partners, who make most decisions about what they do in classrooms, a different kind of conversation emerges—a dialogue" where all voices are heard. Promote this type of dialogue by taking a humble position, demonstrating compassion toward your teachers' needs, and being willing to learn from them (Knight, 2018).

Encourage teachers to reflect on their practice, help them identify their strengths and areas of growth, and celebrate success together. As you begin to plan in this direction, the Lord will inspire your creativity in helping our teachers reach their full potential for His glory.

“Effectivizing” Your Educators

By Berit von Pohle
Vice President for Education—Pacific Union Conference

As school leaders, we have the opportunity to ensure that our students master the standards we have determined are the essential curriculum. Without minimizing the overarching spiritual climate, schools exist for student learning.

Even more, than the opportunity to ensure student learning, it is the responsibility of every school leader to "effectivize" the educators on the school campus. According to The Wallace Foundation 2021 Report, How Principals Affect Students and Schools, the principal is second only to the classroom teacher in impacting what a student learns in school. They further state that principals matter substantially to student achievement.

The beliefs exhibited by the staff at the school can make all the difference for the success of the students. For example, do the teachers believe that all students can learn? Are the teachers committed to working with each student to ensure mastery of the standards? Are academic successes celebrated?

When the topic of Instructional Leadership is raised, we often immediately think about classroom observations and teacher evaluations. But before we go to a teacher's classroom, it is imperative that we have a collective understanding of what effective instruction looks like. In an article titled, A Job Description for Teachers, Grant Wiggins suggests that a teacher has three specific tasks:

1. To cause successful learning (for all students) related to school program and course goals, as determined by appropriate local, state, and national assessments.
2. To cause greater interest in the subject and learning than before, as determined by observations, surveys, and client feedback.
3. To cause greater confidence, feelings of efficacy, and intellectual direction in learners.

In his book, What Great Principals Do Differently, Todd Whitaker notes that "the best thing a principal can do to build parent relations is to ensure every student has a phenomenal teacher."

Every time there is an opening on the staff, great care must be taken to clearly define the characteristics necessary in the person being sought. It is also critical that the candidate be carefully researched to provide the best opportunity for success.

Lead learners (principals) have three different but overlapping activities involved with instructional leadership. Coaching, classroom observations, and evaluations will all have an impact on the learning of students.

Coaching is the actions involved with assisting teachers continually improve their teaching abilities. Principals can create a culture of reflective instruction, collaborative inquiry into what causes (or impedes) student learning, and ongoing professional development.

Classroom observations (not to be consumed with teacher evaluations) provide teachers with another set of eyes. Observations, informal and formal, should be planned to assist teachers with perceived areas of growth. These areas of growth may be determined by the teacher or the principal or in collaboration. Classroom observations don't need to be the same every time. But, it is essential that feedback is provided to the teacher at the end of each observation.

In addition to teacher evaluations being a requirement of employment, this is a regular opportunity for teachers to be aware of the areas in which they are doing well and shouldn't be changed, as well as to be aware of areas in which they can grow.

Successful teacher evaluations are not focused solely on classroom instruction. Instead, they are summative documents and include two additional questions from Grant Wiggins, A Job Description for Teachers:

1. What is my job when I’m not with the students?
2. What is my job when I’m with my colleagues?

Teacher evaluations should align with the model of instruction agreed upon for the campus.

No one is a "bad" teacher because they want to be. As the principal, it is important to determine what resources might assist a teacher in improving their teaching skills. It may also be necessary to determine whether teaching isn't the right career for this individual or whether teaching at this particular school isn't where this teacher will be most effective. No one wants to terminate a teacher or counsel them to resign, but when student learning is the priority, sometimes it becomes necessary.

Remember that marginal teachers shortchange students, contribute to parental dissatisfaction, and tarnish the reputation of the profession and the school.

In another quote from What Great Principals Do Differently, Whitaker says, "The best ways to improve a school are hire better teachers or make the ones you have better. Great Principals do both!"

As the lead learner, the principal is learning alongside the teachers and providing or facilitating professional development, which will enhance student learning.