11
TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS By Joellen Killion I f the primary goal of a coaching program is to improve student learning, then coaches focus their work on strengthening the quality of teaching and learning. If any of the providers of coaching — the school, the district, or the coach — is unclear about the goal of the coaching, then coaches will struggle to keep a laser-like focus on doing what matters. I have been experimenting with how I talk with coaches about the importance of their decisions related to how they allo- cate their time and services. I’ve come to believe that there are two kinds of coach- ing — coaching light and coaching heavy. The difference between them is essential- ly in the results produced. Aspects of a coach’s belief system, the roles, and the context matter, too. Coaching light results in coaches being accepted, appreciated, and even liked by their peers. When coaches’ work is driven by the goal of being appreciated, coaches tend to say “yes” to services they believe will ingratiate them with staff members, particularly those who may exhibit some reluctance to working with a coach. Coaching light occurs when coach- es want to build and maintain relation- ships more than they want to improve teaching and learning. From this perspec- tive, coaches may act to increase their perceived value to teachers by providing resources and avoiding challenging con- versations. They may provide demonstra- tion lessons, share curriculum materials, or facilitate learning without holding an expectation that teachers apply the learn- ing in their classrooms. While each serv- ice has value and contributes to improving teaching and learning, they can also be acts of avoidance. From the perspective of the teacher, FOR A DYNAMIC COMMUNITY OF TEACHER LEADERS WHAT’S INSIDE NSDC tool It’s time to celebrate successes in our learning. PAGE 5 Voice of a teacher leader Bill Ferriter wonders if he is a mentor or a leader. PAGE 6 Lessons from a coach Coach Linda Sutphin forges connections in high school. PAGE 7 Focus on NSDC’s standards Joellen Killion describes the Leadership standard. PAGE 8 Research brief Standards for effective pedagogy. PAGE 10 t t National Staff Development Council 800-727-7288 www.nsdc.org NSDC’s purpose: Every educator engages in effective professional learning every day so every student achieves. 3 3 ns dc Vol. 3, No. 8 May 2008 Vol. 3, No. 8 May 2008 ARE YOU COACHING HEAVY OR LIGHT?

NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

  • Upload
    hanhi

  • View
    217

  • Download
    3

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

TEACHERSTEACHINGTEACHERS

TEACHERSTEACHINGTEACHERS

By J o e l l e n K i l l i o n

Ifthe primary goal of a coachingprogram is to improve studentlearning, then coaches focus theirwork on strengthening the qualityof teaching and learning. If any of

the providers of coaching — the school,the district, or the coach — is unclearabout the goal of the coaching, thencoaches will struggle to keep a laser-likefocus on doing what matters.

I have been experimenting with how

I talk with coaches about the importanceof their decisions related to how they allo-cate their time and services. I’ve come tobelieve that there are two kinds of coach-ing — coaching light and coaching heavy.The difference between them is essential-ly in the results produced. Aspects of acoach’s belief system, the roles, and thecontext matter, too.

Coaching light results in coachesbeing accepted, appreciated, and evenliked by their peers. When coaches’ workis driven by the goal of being appreciated,coaches tend to say “yes” to services theybelieve will ingratiate them with staffmembers, particularly those who mayexhibit some reluctance to working with acoach. Coaching light occurs when coach-es want to build and maintain relation-ships more than they want to improveteaching and learning. From this perspec-tive, coaches may act to increase theirperceived value to teachers by providingresources and avoiding challenging con-versations. They may provide demonstra-tion lessons, share curriculum materials,or facilitate learning without holding anexpectation that teachers apply the learn-ing in their classrooms. While each serv-ice has value and contributes to improvingteaching and learning, they can also beacts of avoidance.

From the perspective of the teacher,

F O R A D Y N A M I C C O M M U N I T Y O F T E A C H E R L E A D E R S

WHAT’SINSIDE

NSDC toolIt’s time tocelebratesuccesses in ourlearning.PAGE 5

Voice of ateacher leaderBill Ferriterwonders if he isa mentor or aleader.PAGE 6

Lessons from acoachCoach LindaSutphin forgesconnections inhigh school.PAGE 7

Focus on NSDC’sstandardsJoellen Killiondescribes theLeadershipstandard.PAGE 8

Research briefStandards foreffectivepedagogy.PAGE 10

tt

National StaffDevelopmentCouncil800-727-7288www.nsdc.org

NSDC’s purpose: Every educator engages in effective professional learning every day so every student achieves.

33

nsdc

™™

Vol. 3, No. 8May 2008

Vol. 3, No. 8May 2008

ARE YOU COACHING

HEAVY OR LIGHT?

Page 2: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

coaching light feels supportive. Teachers appreci-ate the resources and ideas, yet they simultane-ously wonder if it wouldn’t be better if the coachwere working directly with students. Teachersfeel as if they have an advocate in the coach,someone who understands the complexity of theirwork and who will empathize with them. Theymay request the same kind of resources or sup-port from the coach that they might ask from aclassroom aide, if they had one. Teachersacknowledge that they have received strategiesand ideas from the coach that are useful and thatthey may even try some in their classrooms.Coaches who lack confidence and courage maytread lightly in their interactions with teachersand limit the focus of their interactions to praiseor to questions that merely ask teachers to recallor describe their actions.

Light coaching examplesExamples of coaching light include testing

students, gathering leveled books for teachers touse, doing repeated demonstration lessons, find-ing web sites for students to use, or sharing pro-fessional publications or information about work-shops or conferences. Coaching light can eveninclude feedback to teachers that describesteacher behaviors rather than student learning.Sometimes, in order to build relationships andestablish their credibility, coaches may compro-mise their influence by engaging in tasks thathave limited potential for impact on teaching andlearning. This is coaching light.

Coaches may be saying, “Yes, but the servic-es you describe as coaching light have the poten-tial to build trusting relationships and establishmy credibility and convey to teachers that we areserious when we say, ‘We are here to help you.’”I agree that coaching light achieves these goals,however, there are other ways to build trusting,professionally respectful relationships and estab-lish credibility that are grounded in tackling thedifficult issues and being willing to address whathas previously been “undiscussable” in schools.“How well are my students doing and how can Iimprove my teaching so their learningimproves?” These questions are crucial in ALLschools, not just the low-achieving schools inwhich many coaches work.

Heavy coaching examplesCoaching heavy, on the other hand, includes

curriculum analysis, data analysis, instructionalchanges, and conversations about beliefs andhow they influence practice.

Coaching heavy:• Is driven by a coach’s deep commitment to

improve teaching and learning, even if itmeans not being liked;

• Is focused on planning powerful instruction;implementing and analyzing frequent forma-tive assessments; holding high expectationsfor teacher performance; and delivering arigorous curriculum;

• Requires coaches to say “no” to trivialrequests for support and to turn their atten-tion to high-leverage services with the great-est potential for improving teaching andlearning;

• Requires coaches to work with all teachersin a school, not just those who invite them toprovide services; and

• Requires coaches to seek and use data abouttheir work and regularly analyze decisionsabout time allocation, services, and impact.When coaching heavy, coaches work outside

their comfort zone and stretch their coachingskills, content knowledge, leadership skills, rela-tionship skills, and instructional skills. They areincreasingly aware of the beliefs that drive theiractions and reexamine them frequently.

From a teacher’s perspective, coachingheavy feels heavy — in the sense of the weightof collective responsibility and commitment eachteacher devotes to the success of every student.Teachers may spend more time working withteams of colleagues rather than alone to planinstruction, analyze assessment data, examinestudent work, conduct action research, and depri-vatize their professional practices. To teachers,coaching heavy causes them to feel on edge,questioning their actions and decisions. This doesnot mean that teachers feel fear, anxiety, ordread. Rather, teachers feel a heightened sense ofprofessionalism, excitement, increased efficacy,and satisfaction with teaching. Coaching heavyholds all adults responsible for student successand engages them as members of collaborativelearning teams to learn, plan, reflect, analyze, and

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 2t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

COACHINGHEAVY OR LIGHT

Coaching heavyholds all adultsresponsible forstudent success andengages them asmembers ofcollaborativelearning teams tolearn, plan, reflect,analyze, and revisetheir daily teachingpractices based onstudent learningresults.

Page 3: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 3t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

revise their daily teaching practices based on stu-dent learning results.

Coaching heavy occurs when coaches askthought-provoking questions, uncover assump-tions, and engage teachers in dialogue about theirbeliefs and goals rather than focusing only onteacher knowledge and skills. For example, ratherthan talking about what a teacher decided to doin a lesson, the coach asks the teacher to describehis of her belief about teaching, student learning,and student capacity to learn. These differencesare not just subtle shifts in the way questions areworded, but rather tied directly to the coach’sdesire to engage teachers in examining their men-tal models and how those beliefs drive their deci-sions and resulting behaviors. For example,rather than asking, “What did you think aboutwhen the students were unable to respond to yourquestions?” the coach asks, “What do youbelieve is the role of teacher questions in thelearning process? What intentions do you hold

when asking questions in your lessons?” The pur-pose of interaction at the belief and goal levelrather than at knowledge and skills level is tofacilitate teachers’ exploration of who they are asteachers as much or more than what they do asteachers. At this level, deep reform can occur.

Refining the conceptI presented the concept of coaching heavy

and coaching light to coaches in Walla Walla(Wash.) Public Schools. Where I have visualizedcoaching heavy and light as two ends of a seesawwith the light end in the air and the heavy end onthe ground, they see an image that is more of aspiral with each revolution focusing more finitelyon the target. Coaches, they said, use a blend ofcoaching heavy and light and with each turn theynarrow their focus.

My perspective shifted as a result of listeningto their thinking. Coaches may use both coachingheavy and coaching light in their repertoire of

COACHINGHEAVY OR LIGHT

Belief Side effects

1. Being accepted gives me moreleverage to work with teachers.

Working on being accepted may delay conversations on what matters most — teaching and learning.

2. Being viewed as credible isessential to being a coach.

Credibility emerges from the alignment between one’s actions and one’s words. Acting on whatmatters immediately builds credibility.

3. The work of coaches is tosupport teachers.

Saying that a coach’s role is to support teachers misleads teachers. A coach’s primary responsibility isto improve student learning.

4. Teachers resist change. As professionals, teachers seek continuous improvement. Teachers are motivated to change whenthey see proven results in terms of student success. When that success becomes evident in their ownclassrooms, they become change enthusiasts.

5. Coaches can’t impose onteachers since they have nosupervisory responsibilities.

Coaches can’t afford not to impose on what teachers believe and how that impacts their actions.Their work is too important and without conversations about beliefs, deep change is unlikely.

6. Helping teachers know about orlearn how to implement newinstructional strategies is acoach’s primary responsibility.

Coaches’ primary responsibility is student learning often mediated by teachers’ application ofeffective practices rather than knowing about or knowing how to use those practices.

7. Coaches are not responsible forwhat teachers do.

Coaches are responsible for helping teachers explore the beliefs that drive their actions. In dialogue,through reflective questioning, and by presenting data, coaches can influence what teachers thinkand do.

BELIEFS THAT MAY INTERFEREWITH ONE’S ABILITY TO COACH HEAVY AND POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS

Page 4: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 4t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

strategies. But, beyond a few introductory weeksof coaching light, coaches must shift to coachingheavy and stay there. In this way, coachesincrease the potential to significantly impactteaching practices and student learning. I willgrant coaches a short period of time at the begin-ning of a new coaching program — when they arenew to a school or when coaching is new to theschool — to coach light. During this time, coach-es assess the culture, context, and conditions inwhich they work. However, the shift to coachingheavy cannot wait long because students cannotwait for the best teaching possible.

When I talked with a team of coaches inFairfax County (Va.) Public Schools about coach-ing heavy and coaching light, I expressed myuncertainty about using the words heavy andlight. I told them that I worry that coachingheavy connotes that coaching is focused on cor-rective action or conveys a supervisory or evalua-tive orientation to coaching. This is not my inten-tion with coaching heavy. Rather, the orientationis one of laser-like focus on the work of improv-ing teaching and student learning. Like a laser, acoach focuses intense energy into a small space.That small space is the interaction that occursbetween teachers and students.

These insightful coaches suggested anotherway to describe coaching heavy and coachinglight — coaching shallow and coaching deep. Ishare their metaphor with my own embellish-ments. In shallow water, both the coach andteacher feel safe. They can touch bottom. Theyhave a limited perspective of what it means toswim because they can still stand. In deep water,however, both the coach and the teacher, unlessthey are competent swimmers, are out of a com-fort zone since they must depend on their swim-ming skills to be safe. Depending on their skills,they may experience anxiety or even fear.Coaches can provide flotation devices to reduceanxiety if necessary, yet coaches must be compe-tent swimmers and stand ready to rescue ateacher who does not swim well. Coaches andteachers together can work on improving thestrength and accuracy of their strokes so theygrow as competent and confident in deep wateras they are in shallow water. Eventually, non-swimmers develop a view of themselves as mas-

ter of both elementary and advanced swimstrokes and, when they demonstrate that theyhave become swimmers, they navigate easily andeagerly and even for distances.

What I am asking of coaches demands thatthey shift from being liked and appreciated tomaking a difference. Coaches may need to exam-ine their beliefs about who they are as a coach,the role of coaching in the school, and aboutchange. These beliefs drive who they are ascoaches. Coaching heavy requires that coachesmove to the edge of or beyond their comfort zoneand even their competence to encourage teachersto move beyond theirs as well. For some coaches,the thought of this produces tremendous anxiety.When coaches opt to stay in their own or inteachers’ comfort zone too long, they limit theimpact of their work and even waste their pre-cious time and the resource of coaching.Coaches’ decision to stay in their comfort zone, Ibelieve, is based on their beliefs about the role ofa coach or about how to improve teaching andstudent learning. (See chart on p. 3.)

ConclusionThe work of coaching is complex and chal-

lenging. What coaches do each day influenceswhat teachers do and that, in turn, influenceswhat students know and do. When coaches allo-cate time to services with the greatest potentialfor deep change in teaching and learning withintheir schools, students, teachers, and principalsbenefit. Every student succeeds as a result ofhigh-quality teaching. Every teacher succeeds asa result of coaching heavy. No teacher faces aninstructional challenge alone again. Every schoolcommunity engages in ongoing, ruthless analysisof data, and continuous cycles of improvementthat allow educators to measure results in a mat-ter of weeks, not months or years. Coaches sup-port teachers as they work together to resolveproblems of practice and to make smarter, collab-orative decisions enriched by the shared practiceof the community. When coaches choose rolesthat have the greatest potential for impactingteaching and student learning, the perceived val-ue of coaching and coaches will be unquestioned,even when budgets are tight and other competingpriorities emerge.�

COACHINGHEAVY OR LIGHT

Adapted from JoellenKillion’s chapter onCoaches’ Roles,Responsibilities, andReach in Knight, J.(Ed.), Coaching:Approaches andperspectives (2009).Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press.Copyright © 2009 byCorwin Press, www.corwinpress.com. Allrights reserved.

I am asking coachesto shift from beingliked andappreciated tomaking a difference.

Page 5: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

Nomatter what has happened at your school this year, theteachers in your building have learned something that willimpact their work next year. Use some time at the end of thisschool year to reflect on the work and the learning of the year that

is ending and to prepare teachers for the coming school year.Set aside about an hour for this activity. If the school staff is too large to do

this comfortably in an hour, then organize a similar celebration for subject-areagroups or for groups of grade-level teams.

t TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 53

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

NSDCTOOL

Need more ideas forend-of-the-yearcelebrations? See theMay 2008 issue ofThe Learning Principalin the members-onlyarea of the NSDCweb site,www.nsdc.org.

CELEBRATE A YEAROF LEARNING

Begin by asking teachers to pair up with another teacher who is not on their grade-level team.

• Invite each of them to share with the other teacher one success or one challenge of the school

year. The teacher who is listening should not comment but listen silently while the other teacher

speaks. The facilitator should keep time and advise the group when the second teacher should

begin speaking. Time: 3 minutes per speaker

• Still working with the same partner, ask each teacher to reflect on what they learned from the

success or the challenge that they described. The teacher who is listening should not comment

but listen silently while the other teacher speaks. The facilitator should keep time and advise the

group when the second teacher should begin speaking. Time: 3 minutes per speaker

• Still working with the same partner, ask each teacher to propose what they will do differently

during the next school year as a result of what they learned from the success or challenge they

described. The teacher who is listening should not comment but listen silently while the other

teacher speaks. The facilitator should keep time and advise the group when the second teacher

should begin speaking. Time: 3 minutes per speaker

• Bring the entire group together. Facilitate a group sharing built out of these exchanges. The

facilitator could either invite each teacher to describe his or her own success/challenge, learning,

and anticipated change or invite each teacher to describe the success/challenge, learning, and

anticipated change of his or her partner teacher. Time: 3 minutes per speaker

On a chart paper, the facilitator should note any themes that emerge from the teachers in

preparation for a closing discussion. Were there any surprises in the successes or the challenges? Is

there anything common among the successes or the challenges? Do those commonalities suggest

actions for the upcoming school year?

Page 6: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 6t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

I’ve been thinking about mentoring lately —primarily because I’m just not the mentor-ing type! I’m rough around the edges andimpatient, which is a quick two strikes

against me. On top of that, I often get lost in myown thoughts and overlook others easily.

Definitely strike three.Feeling a bit like an outsider (shouldn’t

every accomplished teacher support novicepeers?), I’ve been struggling to redefine mentor-ing. “I support mid-career teachers,” I explain.“They need advice and guidance too! And whatabout all the writing I do. Doesn’tthat count as mentoring? Someoneout there has to be learning fromme!”

After fumbling around for a fewweeks, I turned to my TeacherLeaders Network colleagues for helpin determining whether I could callmyself a mentor. David Cohen — apeer in California — answered first:

“No, Bill, I don’t see you as oneof my mentors ... yet. When I startcoming to you with my problems and challengesand we get personal, then you’re a mentor. Whenyou know what’s happening in my teaching andyou start proactively guiding, supporting, ques-tioning, then you’re a mentor. Likewise, I don’tthink you’re mentoring any non-teachers unlessyou’re supporting them in overall practice andimprovement.

“Are you a leader? Yes.”David left me thinking because I’ve never

seen “leading” and “mentoring“ as unique formsof professional expression before. I’ve alwaysbeen trapped by the idea that mentoring and lead-ership are synonymous.

The line between leading and mentoringseems to be delineated by relationships. The best

mentors value shared experiences with protégésas a tangible product and a source of satisfaction.Most of my leadership, on the other hand, standsindependent of relationships. I’m driven by ideas— and willing to make my thinking transparentto others — but I’m not concerned about whetherpeople follow me.

So which role is more important?According to noted educational leader Phil

Schlechty, neither!To Schlechty (1993), I’m a

“trailblazer,” standing on the cutting edge of edu-cation and willing to move forwarddespite the lack of convincing evi-dence that I will succeed.Trailblazers operate on personal con-victions. Their passion and purposecreates cognitive dissonance in aschoolhouse, forcing others torethink what works best for students.

But trailblazers are often isolat-ed individuals disconnected from thegroup. The work of trailblazers,Schlechty argues, must be supported

by pioneers. Pioneers are teachers who recognizea need to move forward, but remain motivated bysupporting peers. A willingness to invest in oth-ers and a belief that the progress of the group isthe greatest determinant of success make pio-neers natural mentors.

I’d guess that most people drawn to teachingare pioneers. After all, mentoring is a part ofwhat we do with students each day. But it’sequally important for a school to celebrate thework of trailblazers. To do otherwise is to under-value the work of motivated — yet often isolated— agents of change.

Who are the pioneers and trailblazers in yourbuilding?�

Trailblazers stand at the edge

VOICE OF ATEACHER LEADER

Bill Ferriter is a 6th-grade social studiesand language artsteacher at SalemMiddle School, Apex,N.C.

Join theconversation withBill by visitingwww.nsdc.org/blog/and offering youropinion. Bill postshis provocativeideas frequently —be sure to returnoften.

ReferenceSchlechty, P.C. (1993).On the frontier ofschool reform withtrailblazers, pioneers,and settlers. Journalof Staff Development,Fall 1993.

Page 7: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

Coaches are the machine oil

QHow do you approach coaching dif-ferently at the secondary level?

When I first started (coaching) 10 years ago,people were pretty much teaching whatever theyenjoyed teaching or personally felt necessary.There was little collaboration. Nobody knewwhat anybody else was doing.

The curriculum coordinators became thatlink.

We model and mentor; we observe all theteachers at least once during the year. We’re notevaluative at all. We offer help and try to con-vince teachers that we’re their resource if theyhave any problems or concerns. We get intoclassrooms, meet with the department chairs andadministration. Teachers have asked to sit andplan with us. We work on assessments. We liketo tell teachers at the beginning of each year,“We’re your new best friends” and hope theytake us up on that. We’re advocates for teachers.We’re still on a teacher contract; we’re notadministrators, and we make every effort to stayout of that role.

At the high school level, developing trustwas the first step. After that, the teachers had tosee a real benefit to being more collegial. At alarge high school, teachers may teach the samesubject but never see each other. By providingthem time to sit down with a focus, we were ableto bring that about. We went to the administrationand asked for time for teachers to get together.

As a result of being given the time to sitdown together and start talking — and the stan-dardized tests gave us a focus on how we areteaching to the standards — then everybody hada goal in mind.

We (coaches) are like the oil for that well-oiled machine. We have a great district, greatteachers and really great kids, and I don’t knowhow much our results can be attributed to ourpositions. What I can say is that by perhaps thethird year, we started to see how important thesepositions are to that machine. We were able tosee the teachers starting to work together toachieve a common goal and see them value col-laboration and continuity. It was making a differ-ence to them.�

LESSONS FROMA COACH

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 7t3

Linda Sutphin is ascience curriculumleader for the MasonCity Schools inMason, Ohio.

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

23 super strategiesNSDC presents a new edition of the popular Powerful Designs for Professional Learning

featuring descriptions of professional learning strategies by educators who have done this

work. Topics range from Action Research to Data Analysis to Lesson Study to Mentoring.

Includes a CD-ROM with more than 270 pages of handouts.

B380, 302 pp., CD-ROM, $80.00

NSDC members save 20%

Order at store.nsdc.org or 800-727-7288

Page 8: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

For moreinformation aboutNSDC’s Standardsfor StaffDevelopment, seewww.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm

Coaches are leaders among their peers.As leaders, coaches have several keyresponsibilities. These responsibilitiesinclude:

• Clearly articulating the link betweenschool and district goals for student achievementand the professional development support theyprovide teachers;• Vigilantly monitoring the quality of the pro-

fessional development available to teacherswithin the school;

• Continuously striving for improvement incurriculum, assessment, and instruction;

• Rigorously monitoring their own work toensure that their work focuses exclusively onsupporting teachers to deepen their contentknowledge and improve their professionalpractice; and

• Constantly modeling the values and beliefsof the school through their attitudes andactions.As leaders of learning among their peers,

coaches provide explanations to teachers, theprincipal, parents, and other community membersabout the importance of professional learning andhow it links to quality teaching and improvedstudent achievement. They communicate howteachers’ learning experiences directly supportteachers’ practice. They may be called on todemonstrate how professional learning helps aschool or district reach its student achievementgoals. They may write articles for staff or parentnewsletters explaining the link between profes-sional learning and student achievement and offera theory of change, a road map that explains thesequence of actions that lead to the desired goalsand the underlying assumptions that support thechoice of this set of actions. They are ready tohelp all stakeholders understand how their workas coaches helps both teachers and the school

meet student achievement goals.As advocates for high-quality professional

learning, coaches help teachers and the principalunderstand NSDC’s Standards for StaffDevelopment and use those standards to ensurethat the professional development available intheir schools is of the highest quality. They rec-ommend that the school annually evaluate thequality of its professional development usinginstruments such as NSDC’s StandardsAssessment Inventory (www.nsdc.org/standards/

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 8t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

Coaches lead in many waysJoellen Killion isdeputy executivedirector of NationalStaff DevelopmentCouncil.

FOCUS ON NSDC’SSTANDARDS

LEADERSHIP

Staff development that improves the

learning of all students requires skillful

school and district leaders who guide

continuous instructional improvement.

Page 9: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

about/selfassessment.cfm) or the InnovationConfiguration maps for the standards (Roy &Hord, 2003; Killion & Harrison, 2006). Byassessing the quality of professional developmentannually, a school has data to determine how toimprove the quality of its professional develop-ment, and the coach has information to guide hisor her work with individuals or teams. Coachesare spokespersons for high-quality professionaldevelopment, the kind that improves the learningof all students, and aligns his or her work withthe standards.

Coaches focus the professional developmentthey provide teachers either individually, inteams, or as a whole school, on the specific goalsfor student achievement set at the classroom,school, and district levels. To achieve these goals,coaches help teachers ensure that their classroomcurriculum aligns with adopted district curricu-lum, that they frequently assess student learningto ensure that instruction targets student learningneeds and preferences, that they choose teachingpractices that are research- or evidence-based andfrequently adjust those practices to meet studentlearning needs; and that they create classroomroutines and structures that minimize disruptionsand maximize student engagement. To accom-plish these responsibilities, coaches might engageteachers in opportunities to learn new instruction-al and assessment practices, facilitate peer-reviewprocesses, such as the Collaborative AssessmentConferences or Tuning Protocols, providedemonstration lessons, co-teach, or observeteachers and offer feedback to help them refinetheir use of a particular instructional practice.Coaches might also facilitate teams of teachers incollaborative planning and lesson studies oranalyses. Coaches may also coach, train, or sup-port department, team, or grade-level chairs asthey facilitate collaborative professional work.

Coaches rigorously monitor their own workto ensure that it focuses on improving studentachievement rather than only improving teacherpractice. Shifting the focus from teaching tolearning keeps the coach’s work targeted on thedesired outcome. Coaches want to help teachersthink about how what they know and do impactswhat students know and do. Coaches make criti-cal decisions about how they spend their time.

For example, they may spend more time early inthe school year helping teachers access resources,yet leave behind that work to focus on actionsthat more directly impact teaching and learning.Some of these actions include facilitating learn-ing experiences for teachers, engaging in collabo-rative team planning, developing and scoringcommon assessments, using data to plan instruc-tion, observing and providing feedback to teach-ers. When coaches align their work with class-room, school, and district student achievementgoals and engage in those interactions and sup-port of teachers that is most closely linked withteaching and learning, they are more likely torealize greater results of their work.

Coaches constantly model the values andbeliefs of the school through their attitudes andactions. They know that they are carriers of theculture and that others will look to them to bestandard setters of normative practices. Whencoaches are positive and respectful of students,teachers, administrators, and parents, others mayfollow their example. When coaches demonstratethat they go out of their way to be helpful, othersmay notice. When coaches go above and beyondthe expected, others might also. When coachespersist in solving complex problems, others willjoin in. Coaches lead through their actions andattitudes and model salient behaviors that supporta collaborative professional culture.

Coaches practice leadership in all aspects oftheir work. As leaders, they have several keyresponsibilities in their schools and districtsincluding supporting teacher professional devel-opment particularly in curriculum, assessment,instruction, and classroom environment; helpingthe school and its community understand the val-ue of teacher professional learning and how itcontributes to improvements in student achieve-ment; using standards to assess and improve thequality of professional development within aschool and district; and ensuring that they modelactions, attitudes, values, and beliefs that supportteacher professionalism and continuous improve-ment in student achievement.�

t TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 93

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

FOCUS ON NSDC’SSTANDARDS

ReferencesKillion, J. & Harrison,C. (2006). Taking thelead: New roles forteachers and school-based coaches.

Roy, P. & Hord, S.(2003).MovingNSDC’s staffdevelopmentstandards intopractice: Innovationconfigurations.

All NSDC books canbe ordered throughNSDC’s OnlineBookstore,store.nsdc.org.

For more informationabout NSDC’spackage of standards-related materials, visitthe web site atwww.nsdc.org/standards/about/index.cfm.

Page 10: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 10t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

B y C a r l a T h o m a s M c C l u r e

Researchers at the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley recently examinedthe effects of research-based standardsfor effective pedagogy on student

achievement gains. Earlier studies had foundteachers’ use of the Five Standards for EffectivePedagogy, developed by the Center for Researchon Education, Diversity and Excellence(CREDE), to be associated with student achieve-ment gains on standardized tests in elementaryschools serving primarily low-income Latinofamilies. Results of the present study confirmedearlier findings that use of the Five Standards canbenefit all students. But, as usual, there’s more tothe story.

What are the Five Standards for EffectivePedagogy?

The Five Standards are guidelines for effec-tively educating K-16 students of various cultur-al, language, and economic backgrounds. Thestandards do not embrace a specific curriculumbut establish principles for instruction and class-room organization across subject areas. The FiveStandards were distilled from education researchinvolving students at risk of academic failure.They were developed and refined over time byresearchers at CREDE.

Collaboration and dialogue among teacherand students are at the heart of the FiveStandards, which call for (1) teachers and stu-dents working together; (2) developing languageand literacy skills across the curriculum; (3) con-necting lessons to students’ lives; (4) engagingstudents with challenging lessons; and (5)emphasizing dialogue over lectures.

What do the Five Standards look like in action?

Classrooms that incorporate the FiveStandards model might be described, in simpleterms, as having a teacher center and severalactivity centers connected by a common learningobjective. As the teacher holds an academic,goal-directed instructional conversation with asmall group of students, other small groupsengage in purposeful, student-led activities.

What was the design of the recent Five Standardsstudy?

The researchers used a quasi-experimentaldesign that involved 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-grade stu-dents in two public schools in California.Researchers matched the two study schools asclosely as possible by ensuring that they weresimilar in demographics, academic performance,and location (the schools were less than a mileapart). The teachers in the experimental schoolhad been working informally with the FiveStandards for several years, although they hadreceived no systematic professional developmentin their use. By contrast, teachers in the control

Carla Thomas McClureis a staff writer atEdvantia(www.edvantia.org), anonprofit researchand developmentorganization thatworks with federal,state, and local educa-tion agencies toimprove studentachievement.

Teaching and learning for all

RESEARCHBRIEF

The five standards for effective pedagogy

• Teachers and students working together. Use instructional group activitiesin which students and teacher work together to create a product or idea.• Developing language and literacy skills across all curricula. Apply literacystrategies and develop language competencies in all subject areas.• Connecting lessons to students’ lives. Contextualize teaching andcurriculum in students’ existing experiences in home, community, and school.• Engaging students with challenging lessons.Maintain challengingstandards for student performance; design activities to advance understandingto more complex levels.• Emphasizing dialogue over lectures. Instruct through teacher-studentdialogue, especially academic, goal-directed, small-group conversations(known as instructional conversations), rather than lecture.

Research-basedstandards for effectivepedagogy have thepotential forimproving learningoutcomes for allstudents, especiallythose with cultural,linguistic, oreconomic challenges.

Page 11: NSDCtool It’stimeto TEACHERS TEACHING PAGE5 TEACHERSregion1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/9.17coachingreflection.pdf · TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS ... opmentparticularlyincurriculum,assessment,

school had received no exposure to the FiveStandards. Across the two sites, 23 teachers and394 students participated in the study.

What did the researchers hope to learn?The researchers wanted to know two things:

(1) whether teachers’ use of the standards wouldreliably predict student achievement and (2)whether achievement would be highest for stu-dents whose teachers had demonstrated extensiveuse of the standards. During multiple classroomobservations, trained researchers rated the degreeto which the Five Standards guided instructionaldecisions. At the end of the school year, they ana-lyzed students’ standardized achievement test(SAT-9) scores for comprehension, language,reading, spelling, and vocabulary — and the rela-tionship between these scores and the degree towhich teachers implemented elements of the FiveStandards model.

What were the findings?The study showed that teachers’ use of the

standards accounted for a small but significantproportion of students’ achievement gains.Achievement gains were greatest among students

whose teachers organized their classroomsaccording to the Five Standards model. Low-English-proficient students benefited the most,but the model was effective for other students aswell. According to researchers, their study doesnot prove a causal relationship between the mod-el and student achievement, but it does provideadditional evidence for the relationship betweenthe Five Standards model and student outcomes.

What’s the rest of the story?The findings of this study illustrate that

“translating research into practice” is not as easyas some might wish. As the researchers them-selves admit, fully implementing the research-based Five Standards model requires teachers totransform their practice, which takes a great dealof effort.

ReferenceDoherty, R.W. & Hilberg, R.S. (2007).

Standards for effective pedagogy, classroomorganization, English proficiency, and studentachievement. The Journal of EducationalResearch, 101(1), 24-34.

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS PAGE 11t3

National Staff Development Council • 800-727-7288 • www.nsdc.org MAY 2008

RESEARCHBRIEF

Teachers TeachingTeachers (T3)™ ispublished eight timesa year by the NationalStaff DevelopmentCouncil, 504 S. LocustSt., Oxford, OH 45056.Copyright, NSDC, 2008.All rights reserved.

MAIN BUSINESSOFFICE504 S. Locust St.Oxford OH 45056513-523-6029800-727-7288Fax: 513-523-0638 (fax)[email protected]

Editor: JoanRichardsonDesigner: Kitty Black

NSDC STAFF

Executive directorStephanie [email protected]

Deputy executive directorJoellen [email protected]

Director of business servicesLeslie [email protected]

Director of communicationsJoan [email protected]

Director of learningCathy [email protected]

Distinguished senior fellowHayes [email protected]

Emeritus executive directorDennis [email protected]

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Karen Dyer (2009)[email protected]

Ingrid Carney (2009)

Sydnee Dickson (2008)[email protected]

Cheryl Love (2010)[email protected]

Charles Mason (2010)

[email protected]

Sue McAdamis (2008)Past [email protected]

James Roussin (2009)[email protected]

Sue Showers (2008)[email protected]

EdWittchen (2010)[email protected]

COPYING/REPRINTPOLICY

All content in Teachers TeachingTeachers (T3) is copyright pro-tected by the National StaffDevelopment Council and maynot be copied or reprinted with-out permission. Please seewww.nsdc.org/library/publications/permpolicy.cfm for details aswell as a form for submitting arequest.

CONTACT

Complete contact informationfor all staff and board membersis available on the web site atwww.nsdc.org/connect/about/index.cfm.

See the standards inactionLearn more about theFive Standards forEffective Pedagogyand watch video clipsof the standards inaction athttp://crede.berkeley.edu/standards/standards.html