Instructional Coaches
Especially for you...
enjoy the resources, websites, and other information to extend the thinking and practices of others in your roles. Have a suggested resource? Use the form on the right to submit your ideas.
This blogger, Elena Aguilar, is an experienced K-12 educator, a transformational-leadership coach and consultant in Oakland, Calif. She is the author of The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation (Jossey-Bass, 2013), The Art of Coaching Teams (Jossey-Bass, 2016), and Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018). She is also the founder of Bright Morning Consulting (brightmorningteam.com) and is active on social media. She tackles issues with which you deal - everything from "When It's Time for a Hard Conversation" to "Cultivating Healthy Communication in Teams."
Access: The Art of Coaching Teachers
This webinar by Michael Fullan highlights the coach's role as a change agent in our schools.
Access: Coaches as Change Agents
This webinar was provided on May 11, 2017, as a follow-up to her presentation at the Curriculum Leadership Academy on April 20, 2017. Additional resources are listed below.
- Article - "The Nine Coaching Roles" by Sam Lang
- Blog - "What Does It Mean to Coach" by Steve Barkley
- Resources - Cognitive Coaching Resources and Links
- Chart - What Is Student Centered Coaching? by Diane Sweeney
- Article - Reprising Coaching Heavy and Coaching Light by Joellen Killion
- Blog - "Surface Coaching vs Deep Coaching" by Jim Knight
- YouTube - "Steve Barkley in Types of Coaching Part 2"
- Blog - "#ObserveMe" by Robert Kaplinsky
- Article - "Find the Coaching in Criticism" by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone, author of Thanks for the Feedback
- Blog - "Instructional Coaches Assessing Impact" by Steve Barkley
- Article - "Instructional Coaching Scale: Measuring the Impact of Coaching Interactions" by Susan Woodruff
- PowerPoint - "Literacy Walk Through Tool" by Norwalk Instructional Coaching Team
- Blog - "11 Things Coaches Should Look For in Observations" by Mrs. Houser
Access: Coaching Heavy? Coaching Light? Coaching Right! by Tricia Kurtt
Elena Aguilar emphasizes the importance of model teaching for new teachers, assuring they have exemplars for which to strive.
- Elana Aguilar is a writer, leader, teacher, coach and podcaster. She is the author of six highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) The Art of Coaching Teams (2016), Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018) and The Onward Workbook (2018) and Coaching for Equity (2020) and The Art of Coaching Workbook (2020). She has also been a frequent contributor to Edutopia, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and EdWeek Teacher.
Elena is the founder and president of Bright Morning Consulting, an organization committed to helping individuals and organizations create the conditions for transformation. She has taught tens of thousands of folks how to have conversations that build a more just and equitable world. Elena can be heard demonstrating these conversations on the Bright Morning Podcast.
Access: Elana Aguilar
This protocol for examining assessments with others is available through the National School Reform Faculty.
Access: Examining Assessments
The provides an excerpt from Elena Aguilar's book, The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation. It offers a coaching framework and dozens of tools which can used by a range of educators.
Access: How Coaching Can Impact Teachers, Principals, and Students
Ms. Houser shares tips and resources.
Access: Inspiring and Encouraging Instructional Coach with Tools and Resources
Edutopia provides tips and resources for instructional coaches.
Access: Instructional Coaching
Susan Woodruff provides a tool to check the impact of your coaching. Sheprovides an excerpt from Elena Aguilar's book, The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation. It offers a coaching framework and dozens of tools which can used by a range of educators. The following is from chapter one.
Access: Instructional Coaching Scale
This organization led by Jim Knight provides professional learning opportunities and resources for instructional coaches.
Check out Steve Barkley's blogs on coaching.
This is a virtual PC in Kansas discussing their coaching framework and the work as instructional coaches.
The purpose of the Kansas Coaching Project (Instuctional Coaching Group) is to study factors related to professional learning and how to improve academic outcomes for students through supports provided by instructional coaches.
Pinterest Board for Instructional Coaching is full of ideas and supports for you as a coach!
Ben Johnson shares what it is and why it matters.
In “Learning from Student Work,” Eric Buchovecky of the ATLAS Communities project has described a collaborative process adapted from the work of Mark Driscoll at Education Development Center and that of Steve Seidel and others at Harvard University’s Project Zero. The piece lays out useful reminders for how participants can stay focused on the evidence before them and on listening to multiple perspectives, rather than getting bogged down in assumptions or evaluations. Those norms are summarized with the
author’s permission in this protocol.
Learning Forward's site for professional learning supports for learning communities, leadership, resources, data, learning designs, implementation, and outcomes.
Student-Centered Coaching introduces a new way of looking at and delivering school-based coaching that puts the needs of students’ front-and-center. By focusing coaching on specific goals for student learning, rather than on changing or fixing teachers , a coach can navigate directly towards a measurable impact and increased student achievement.
This protocol provides suggestions for teachers in selecting students' work to bring to the table with other teachers to gather feedback.
Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium has developed these Teacher Leader Model Standards to codify, promote and support teacher leadership as a vehicle to transform schools for the needs of the 21st century.
Access: Teacher Leader Model Standards
Diane Sweemey shares in this video those practices you should avoid as a coach.
Purpose of the Tuning Protocol — Since its trial run in 1992, The Tuning Protocol has been widely used and adapted for professional development purposes in and among schools across the country. It is best suited to look at a piece of work (from a student, teacher, administrator, etc.) in order to “fine tune” or improve it in some way
Access: Tuning Protocol
The Instructional Coaching Group, formerly The Kansas Coaching Project, provides these videos. Check out their videos that they archive regularly.
Michael Fullan shares a video clip of your needs when it comes to change.
This site provides interviews with instructional coaches.