The Art of Coaching Page 18
If I scaffold Teresa's learning and apply a gradual release of responsibility model
And if I coach Teresa on time management
And if I help her explore her beliefs about giving students feedback consistently and systematically
And if I engage Teresa in a range of facilitative and directive coaching activities
Then she will stay committed to these goals all year and receive the support she needs in order to meet her goals
And then there is a greater likelihood that student performance in her class will improve.
And these were my strategies to work toward systems change at Teresa's school:
If I coach Teresa to develop effective systems for assessment in her classroom
And if we can document these and gather data on their impact
Then we can present these systems and findings to her ELA department and propose their usage schoolwide
And then there is a greater likelihood that student performance across the school will improve.
8. Determine Coach's Goals
This step is also done alone by the coach or with coach-colleagues. Ideally, the coach has a set of standards by which to guide and assess her coaching. The transformational coaching rubric (in Appendix C) is such a tool. In light of the client's goals and her theories of action, the coach determines which coaching practices she needs to focus on and hone in order to reach these ends. For example, a coach might reflect on the development of her coaching skills and then look at her emerging plan and decide that with this client, she'll need to refine her observation and feedback skills. Or the coach may recognize that she's inconsistent in her application of adult learning theories and determine that her client would benefit if she were more systematic and intentional in this area.
What's essential is that the coach look at her own practice and consider where she'll need to grow and develop in order to meet the needs of her client.
9. Compile Resources
At this stage, the coach identifies key texts or resources she might use, such as books, articles, curriculum guides, other teachers or specialists, trainings, workshops, and online resources. These are primarily for the coach to access and draw from, but they can also be shared with the client. There are inevitably some areas of teaching and leading that coaches aren't deeply knowledgeable about; we can't be experts on everything. To me this aspect of the work is very appealing, because I can continue to learn. Furthermore, we want to make sure that the strategies we offer educators or the suggestions we make about whole-school change are grounded in best practices and reflect recent thinking about education.
10. Present and Celebrate the Plan
The final step in this stage of coaching is for the coach to write up the plan and present a copy to the client. A teacher might want to select sections of the plan such as her goals to share with the principal, or she might be expected to share them. It can be useful for principals or supervisors to know what kind of work is happening with a coach—it can build their support for coaching and demystify the process. Supportive principals can also be a resource for a teacher and can reinforce, encourage, and help deepen the coaching work. The client, however, always has the final say about whether anyone other than the coach's supervisor sees the work plan—as long as that person is not also the client's supervisor.
When presenting the plan, the coach's attitude and energy need to be infectiously positive. Clients can feel overwhelmed, apprehensive, and intimidated by a challenging work plan—they are taking a big risk in trusting you to guide them through a long series of activities that will hopefully help them meet their goals. This moment—when you lay that printed copy of the work plan on a teacher's desk—is an opportunity for you to express confidence in the teacher's ability to learn and grow, to communicate excitement about the journey you are both embarking on, and to recall the connection between the client's goal and how children will be affected.
The “Work Plan Presentation” Conversation
Here's what part of the work plan conversation with Teresa sounded like:
Coach:
Teresa, how are you feeling about this work plan?
Teacher:
It's exciting, but I'm also nervous. It seems like so much work and I'm afraid I won't be able to do it all.
Coach:
I hear that, and it makes me think we've set a good goal—it should feel a little challenging. If you meet this goal, what would it mean for your English language learners? For Guadalupe and Felipe?
Teacher:
If I met this and gave them regular feedback, and their writing improved by 15 percent, it would be huge. They'd almost be on grade level. It means that in two years when they first take the high school exit exam, they'd probably be able to pass it. I'd feel really good sending them on to high school if I met this goal.
Coach:
Great. Stay connected to that vision of Guadalupe and Felipe going to high school and passing the exam. Their chances of going to college and determining a career path will be much greater if their writing is on grade level. We'll return to this image when the work gets hard, but I know you can do this—I know that together we can do this. I'm going to be using this plan every week when I prepare for our coaching work, and we'll review it in January to see how we're doing. What's really exciting is that now we're headed in a clear direction, and we have a strong plan for how to get there.
Coaching Journal, 6/12/09
I met with Teresa to reflect on our coaching work this year. She was so excited to see that she'd met the goals she'd laid out. She recognizes that she has a lot more growth to make, but felt good that we'd stayed focused on a couple areas. I can also see how by focusing on the areas of writing feedback, the skills she developed were incorporated into other aspects of her teaching. When I go into her room now, I still see many things she needs to work on, but it's not overwhelming and I see how I can prioritize and scaffold those skills.
Common Challenges and Helpful Responses
Challenge: My client really wants to work on X goal area, but I think she should address Y goal area.
Lens of Adult Learning and Lens of Change Management. This kind of dilemma arises frequently—our knowledge might suggest that a teacher should focus on classroom management, for example, whereas he wants to explore cooperative learning structures. We know that if a teacher is not strong in basic management, then implementing cooperative learning structures will be challenging. However, a core principle of adult learning is that the client's desires and needs drive the work—if he does not own his goals and is not fully invested in them, then transformational change cannot occur. We might try coaching our client toward a different goal area—discussing the conditions in which cooperative learning can be effective, attempting to sway his opinion—but we might also need to go in the direction he's excited about and coach other skills along the way.
The lens of change management can also shed some light on this dilemma. What are the conditions for change here? What are the strengths that can be built on? Where is the will for change? At this point you can see the intersection with the lens of adult learning. If the client is really excited to work on X area, he has the will to change that practice, and because he needs to drive his own learning, you should go with it.
Challenge: I've been asked to coach a teacher who refuses to implement any of the school's new curriculum or use any of the school's best instructional practices. These were the goals, and they were set for us. I don't want to be an enforcer, and I don't know what to do.
Lens of Change Management and Lens of Systems Thinking. Let's look at this dilemma through a change management lens. Consider these questions: Who made the decision for you to coach this teacher? How was it made? What does that decision maker hope that you will do? Who is defining the work of coaching? What is that person's understanding and assumption(s) about what coaching can do? What is the teacher's understanding of what you are supposed to do?
Now take
a step back and look through the lens of systems thinking: What is the state of the school's vision and mission? What is the state of leadership at the school? How have decisions about the curriculum and best instructional practices been made? What resources were available to teachers to implement the new curriculum or instructional practices? How have expectations around curriculum, instructional mandates, and coaching been communicated?
Now focus back in on the teacher: How does he see and understand the school's vision and mission? What is his relationship to them? Which skills does the teacher have? What indicators are there of his will to change? What knowledge does he need to make changes in his practice? Why should he improve his practice? What are the incentives? What will happen if he doesn't?
The purpose of exploring all these different angles is for you to talk with someone who has decision-making power. While there might be a possibility that you can change the teacher's practice, you might need administrative support, and it might not be the best way for you to spend your time and energy.
If we think about everyone as being on a continuum of openness to coaching and improving their practice, a coach shouldn't be used to work with those at the low end of that range. If someone is really closed down to being reflective or making change, it's a waste of a coach's energy to work there. Usually, in any school, there are dozens of other educators who are eager and grateful for support.
How Do I Use This Work Plan?
Individual professional goals are also powerful sources of motivation. When teachers set professional learning goals based on self-identified professional growth challenges, the goals are more compelling. When teachers can relate their goals to better outcomes for the children whose faces they see every day, the goals are more meaningful. And finally, when teachers develop individual professional goals that take them incrementally to a personal career vision, the likelihood of remaining committed to the goal over the long term is enhanced. In this way, professional development designed to achieve these motivating goals becomes an exciting opportunity as opposed to an imposed mandate.
O'Neill and Conzemius (2006, pp. 126–127)
Coaching is the professional development that can help teachers or administrators achieve their goals; the work plan is a road map toward that end. A coach will reference work plans when preparing for a coaching session, and she'll reflect on them monthly, always looking for indicators of progress. Periodically, she'll engage her client in reflecting on how they are working toward meeting the goals, and they'll collect evidence to document this growth. Chapter Fourteen goes into depth on this process.
Finally, work plans can and should be flexible. They often change as coaching develops. What originally felt like the goal may end up being less important than something else that emerges in coaching, and sometimes goals are narrowed or trimmed down. Often they need to be modified because we inaccurately assessed our client's ZPD when we created them. Work plans are a tool and should always serve the journey of transformation. See Exhibit 7.1, next, for a sample work plan.
Exhibit 7.1. Coaching Work Plan
Teacher: Teresa Phillips, eighth-grade English Language Arts
School: Harriet Tubman Learning Academy
Coach: Elena Aguilar
Coach's Personal Vision
coach to heal and transform the world. I coach teachers and leaders to discover ways of working and being that are joyful and rewarding, that bring communities together, and that result in positive outcomes for children. I coach people to find their own power and to empower others so that we can transform our education system, our society, and our world.
Schoolwide Student Achievement Goals
English Language Arts: 60 percent of students overall and in each subgroup score proficient or above in ELA
English Language Development: 100 percent of English language learners will improve their writing scores by 15 percent.
Client's Goals
SMARTE Goal 1
I, Teresa Phillips, will provide verbal and written feedback to all of my students on their writing assignments every other week, within two days of submission of the assignment, for the entire school year.
SMARTE Goal 2
By the end of the first marking period, I, Teresa Phillips, will have created systems to track students' progress toward mastery on the writing standards. I will use these systems for the entire school year.
Rationale
These goals are connected to the school's goal on improving student writing, as measured in part by the district's annual writing assessment. Our school aims at improving scores by 10 percent for all students and by 15 percent for English language learners. I will help meet this goal by focusing on how I give students feedback on their writing and how I track student progress.
Strategic Activities
Teacher and Coach Together
Research systems of organization and determine most useful ones to put in place.
Determine useful time management systems; work together to put those in place.
Analyze student writing.
Analyze writing rubric and identify lessons that can demonstrate the elements that students are struggling with.
Coach will model writing lessons on rubric elements that students struggle with. Teacher will observe. Debrief together.
Cocreate tool to use when giving students feedback.
Prepare for feedback session with students; role-play one feedback conversation.
Coach will observe teacher giving student feedback; debrief and reflect.
Coach will model giving student feedback; teacher will observe; debrief and reflect.
Coach will observe teacher giving writing assignments; debrief and reflect.
Teacher
Engage in all coaching activities.
Set up organization systems and use them consistently.
Coach
Gather resources on time management.
Gather resources on teaching writing to English language learners. Determine most useful tools based on analysis of writing.
Look for conferences and external workshops that Teresa could attend.
Find teachers at other sites who have strong practices in teaching writing whom Teresa could observe.
Indicators of Progress
Assessment tracking systems and evidence of their use
Coach observations of feedback conferences with students
Evidence of student growth from one writing assignment to another, based on specific feedback given by teacher during conference
Teacher-created documents and tools used in feedback conferences
Dates for Plan Review
January 28
June 14
The following portion of the work plan should not be shared with the client.
Coach's Theories of Action
To Meet Teresa's Goals
If I scaffold Teresa's learning and apply a gradual release of responsibility model
And if I coach Teresa on time management
And if I help her explore her beliefs about giving students feedback consistently and systematically
And if I engage Teresa in a range of facilitative and directive coaching activities
Then she will stay committed to these goals all year and receive the support she needs to meet her goals
And then there is a greater likelihood that student performance in her class will improve
To Effect Systems Change
If I coach Teresa to develop effective systems for assessment in her classroom
And if we can document these and gather data on their impact
Then we can present these systems and findings to her ELA department and propose their usage schoolwide
And then there is a greater likelihood that student performance across the school will improve
Rationale
Systems of authentic formative assessment are almost nonexistent at this school, so this approach could be a way to support the development of
methods to assess student growth beyond the annual standardized tests.
Coach's Goals (as Measured on the Transformational Coaching Rubric)
By June 2012, I will reach the indicated levels on the following elements:
1.C. Adult learning theory: Refining
4.D. A range of conversational approaches: Refining
5.F. Gradual release of responsibility: Developing
6.A. Gathering data on coaching: Developing
Rationale
1.C. I apply adult learning theories in my coaching, but I am inconsistent. I want to be more intentional about applying them and reflect on what that means exactly with Teresa. I think it will be most important to remember and use when applying a gradual release of responsibility model.
4.D. use a range of conversational approaches, but I still feel that I do so only when I plan for them and am very intentional. I don't feel that I've internalized them, and that's what I'd like to get to this year.
5.F. think I often inaccurately assess a client's ZPD, so I want to be very thoughtful about how I assess Teresa's and how I coach at the edge of it. I also want to be systematic and intentional about using a gradual release model. I want to think about what that means in terms of an adult learner, how I check to see that she's ready for the next level, and how I scaffold her learning.