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Coaching for Results, Part 5: Completing the Formula

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In the first four parts of the Coaching for Results series, we covered quite a bit of ground. In this blog entry, I’ll share the final two action steps you need to take. I also discuss and share some resources.

Coaching for Results

Image Source: Corwin Press

Of the coaching models available, Diane Sweeney’s calls out to me. Imagine the work and wisdom that went into creating the Results-Based Coaching Tool. In her must-read book on coaching, Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals, Sweeney says:

I have always believed we could find a way to link coaching with student achievement. Yet as a coach, I experienced mandates where I was required to log my daily conversations, turn in my schedule, survey teachers and keep track of which teachers participated in professional development…I realized that if we wanted to collect data that measured the impact of coaching on students then we had to collect a different kind of data.

Her coaching tool arose from the insight and wisdom of her efforts. When I write of coaching for results, it is Sweeney’s efforts I have in mind. But I also combine them with the work of Weston Kieschnick in Bold Schools. Doug Fisher’s, Nancy Frey’s and John Hattie’s work in Visible Learning for Literacy are also relevant. Each of these paints a powerful picture of how the three components can come together in five action steps.

Reviewing the Five Action Steps

The action steps we’ve covered so far include:

  • Action Step #1: Develop and Pre-Assess Learning Outcomes
  • Action Step #2: Select Your High-Effect Size Instructional Strategy
  • Action Step #3: Decide on the Digital Tool(s)
  • Action Step #4: Craft Your Lesson Procedure
  • Action Step #5: Post-Assess Student Learning and Reflect

Coaching for Relevance

The formula is simple to grasp, but complex in each component. You can spend a lifetime learning about each strategy. One example of this is learning when to use high-effect instructional strategies at the surface, deep, and transfer levels of learning. One approach is to consider Sweeney’s methodology, which she outlines in her book:

  • At the beginning of a coaching cycle:
    • Coach and Teacher:
      • Discuss the goals for student learning using “Students will learn…” statements.
      • Preassess students to determine how they are doing in relationship to the goal. Preassessments can take a variety of forms, including the use of technology tools.
  • During the coaching cycle:
    • Coach and Teacher:
      • Design a set of instructional practices that link to the goals for student learning.
      • Determine what coaching practices make sense for the teacher and coach.
      • Work together to put in place instructional practices.
      • Reflect on how those practices assist students in achieving academic goals. (excerpt from Figure 5.1: Capturing Data Across a Coaching Cycle, page 87)

Sweeney includes more suggestions, but one of the key ideas is that  of post-assessment. In post-assessment, we measure performance in relationship to the academic goal. In a similar way, Weston Kieschnick urges us to assess our own praxis. One way could be a depth of knowledge, or use of difficulty and complexity (Fisher, Frey, Hattie, 2016).

coaching for results

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These assessment tools provide us with insight about what our students know. They also suggest to us areas of potential growth in our own preparation. Having a coach to discuss this can be quite helpful, much the same way I found my colleague’s suggestion.

When we coach for results, we:

  • Assist teachers in crafting instruction that works.
  • Develop tech-enhanced, evidence-based learning experiences that are relevant and rigorous.
  • Scaffold accelerated students growth.
  • Conduct pre/post-assessments that align to high-effect size instructional strategies in use.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the last two action steps.

Action Step #4: Craft Your Lesson Procedure

“Plan your lesson, every activity, thinking through what your students will do.” Words of insight from a few years ago via my colleague, Diana Benner. I was in the throes of planning out a workshop that strained complexity. Whomever your audience for lesson design, put yourself in the place of your students.

In Sweeney’s coaching cycle, this is when the coach and teacher get together. They plan out instructional practices. This means you identify what you are going to do as the teacher, and what students will do. You can put it in narrative form or bullet list. In my own classroom, a graphic organizer worked quite well to map out activities.

Image Source: Bold School

Weston Kieschnick’s book, Bold School, offers many examples. In one of my favorite chapters on Direct Instruction (effect size of .59), he describes it in this way:

What will the teacher do?

  • Using direct instruction, the teacher explains a way of interpreting text/chart, etc…
  • The teacher will then show students an example…
  • With Kahoot!, the teacher solicits students input.
  • The teacher will provide more direct instruction based on results of input….

What will the students do?

  • Students will work to comprehend material.
  • Students will take part in a guided practice exercise.
  • Students will engage in independent practice.

To better illustrate this process, here’s one chart. It focuses on the use of Reciprocal Teaching (.74).

Note: Reciprocal Teaching is a deep learning strategy. It relies on scaffolded student conversations (via sentence stems) to develop skills that include summarization (.74), metacognition (.58), questioning (.48), and vocabulary development (.63). Want to learn how to implement it in your classroom or school? Contact TCEA.org’s empowerED program.

Action Step #5: Post-Assess Student Learning and Reflect

What student data will inform teacher instructional practices? For many educators, learning to analyze state assessment data as a team is familiar. Others may find they need more personalized data. For this, they may rely on a variety of assessment tools, many of which are available online. Some are tech-based, but others can be paper-and-pencil or other.

coaching for results

Image Source: Slide 16

The goal of these assessments is to gain insight into what students know before instruction. It is also to gain insight into what they have learned after instruction. Use assessments to adjust instruction as well to meet the needs of students.

Coaching for Results

Keep in mind that high-effect size instructional strategies endure over time. They do so because they have a growing body of research that reveals their efficacy in accelerating student growth. Use technology in ways that make learning relevant to real life, and amplify the impact of strategies that work. When relevant, use it. When not, skip the tech. Focus on accelerating student growth and you won’t go wrong. Remember that less is more.

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student-centered coaching
Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Coaching for Results, Part 1: Exploring Coaching Models

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

““When schools lack an articulated coaching model, confusion reigns and a precious resource is wasted,” say authors Diane Sweeney and Ann Mausbach. Finding the right coaching model for your school or district can be a daunting task. In a recent workshop, I facilitated the exploration of various models and their dynamics. In this blog entry, we’ll explore those dynamics to gain insight into coaching models.

Why Coaching?

Wondering why schools are adopting coaching to assist teachers? “Effective coaching makes it easier for teachers to learn and implement new ideas. Indeed, without follow-up such as coaching, most professional learning will have little effect,” says Jim Knight.

Research shows that coaching is 95%-99% effective in changing professional development outcomes. This makes it a change that adds significant value in classrooms. As such, it has the best hope of impacting teaching and learning for the better.

Instructional coaches provide teachers (source) with the:

  • Best job-embedded professional development (even better than Twitter and social media)
  • Highest possible positive impact on student achievement in literacy and mathematics
  • Action research that yields positive gains in classroom teaching and learning

The last point results from conducting formative assessments to gauge student progress.  Research suggests that coaches are a worthwhile innovation, a change that adds value:

Most educators agree that a qualified, experienced coach offers value-added support to teachers…. [Coaching] can improve teachers’ skillful delivery of reading instruction. The…role of the coach can bring job satisfaction as a collegial contributor of professional learning…. (Source: NRTAC Study, 2010)

In the final analysis, coaching can have a positive impact. Let’s take a look at some popular coaching models. We’ll start with Diane Sweeney‘s Student-Centered Coaching. She provides an amazing lens through which to understand coaching models.

Coaching Model #1: Student-Centered Coaching

“The coach partners with teachers to design learning that is based on a specific objective for student learning,” says Diane Sweeney. In her book Student-Centered Coaching, Diane shares a comparison of various coaching models. In her chart below, Sweeney puts student-centered coaching at the far left, showing that is has a greater impact on learning. In the middle, she has teacher-centered coaching. To the far right is relationship-driven coaching. The table outlines the various attributes of each, focusing on role, focus, use of data, materials, perception of the coach, and the role of relationships.

student-centered coaching

A key point that Diane Sweeney makes is that being student-centered provides a powerful lever that allows every conversation to focus attention on student learning. This is different from other coaching models.

What Do Other Models Focus On?

“Without student work, coaching quickly slips toward being more about teaching practice and less about student learning. Student work keeps coaching conversations grounded and specific, and propels student learning,” says Diane Sweeney in Student-Centered Coaching (pp. 12-13). Other models may focus on teaching practice or relationship building, which may be beneficial, but do not bring the high impact on student learning. They tend to focus on the coach moving teachers. This movement could be to roll out a program or adopt a set of instructional practices. Programs that focus on this type of movement are teacher-centered, rather than student. This presents a bit of a challenge, given how hard it is to expect teachers to change. The drawback, of course, for teacher-centered coaching is that teachers must change. It’s all about the teacher’s efforts and getting them to adopt strategies that work.

What Works Best for Ed Tech Evangelists?

What coaching model do your efforts at educational technology advocacy fall into? Many ed tech coaches focus on providing just-in-time support to teachers, urging them to change what they do. Instructional practices consist of PBL, tool-centric workshop sessions. The latter focus on making the teacher’s job easier. Other times, it’s about building strong relationships and trust. Or both.

Connecting technology with strategies that work is essential, albeit insufficient. In Sweeney’s model, coaches and teachers must put technology in the service of student learning. They must answer the question, “How did this impact student learning? Where’s the evidence?”

Student-Centered Evidence

If you’re wondering where to find student evidence of learning, look at the tasks and work students produce. That work can include any or all the following:

  • Continuous, formative assessment
  • Anecdotal and descriptive

Since using student evidence to co-plan instruction, Sweeney proposes a Results Coaching Tool. As you can see from the tool, it has several major components:

  • Standards-Based Goal. This includes the gathering of baseline data that focuses on the question, “Where are the students now?”
  • Instructional Practice. “What instructional practices will help students reach the goal?”
  • Instructional Coaching. “What coaching practices were implemented during this coaching cycle?”
  • Teacher Learning. “As a result of the coaching, what instructional practices are being used on a consistent basis?”
  • Student learning. “How did student achievement increase as a result of the coaching?” Post assessment data is used to gauge where students are after instruction.

As you review Sweeney’s tool, you may be able to make similar connections, as I did, to where educational technology interventions may fit in. More on that in a future blog post.

As you might imagine, there are many parallels to other coaching models. What sets Sweeney’s approach apart from models such as collegial coaching is its reliance on student evidence. Check back for future blog entries that introduce you to other coaching models.

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