Lucy West

Schools throughout the nation are hiring "coaches" and deploying them in schools in a multitude of ways that may not improve instruction and that rarely affect student learning. Regardless of the title given to the coach--instructional support specialist, mathematics or literacy resource teachers, curriculum specialists, etc.--this person performs many duties in the school, ranging from presenting demonstration lessons, distributing test prep and other materials, handling lunch and bus duty, assisting the principal, entering data from test scores and analyzing these scores, working with small groups of students who are failing, and buoying up the practice of ineffective teachers by teaching for them regularly or occasionally. So, exactly what is the role of a coach? What, if any, of these activities will actually affect student learning and improve teaching practices? The strategy of employing coaches to upgrade teaching and learning can be a powerful one when the purpose and role of the coach have been carefully defined and systemically implemented. But this is a rare occurrence in the hectic world of districts and schools. We propose a definition for a school-based instructional coach who can be key to improving instruction, which is the critical lever for improving student learning. The job of a school-based instructional coach is to raise the quality of the teaching and learning in every classroom in the school by building a culture in which: * Teaching is public and itself the focus of study among professionals; * Planning for instruction is thorough and collaborative and digs deeply into the content; and * Conversation and questions about improving student results among teachers are constant, evidence-based, and nondefensive. When building a dynamic learning culture is the focus, schools get better achievement for students (Hall and Hord 2006). This outcome can't be accomplished by one-on-one coaching alone, though that is a part of it, and not by the coach as a solo agent. But the coach is in the pivotal position to build the norms above because the coach holds the only position designed to have constant contact and classroom access to every teacher in the building and to have a primary focus on improving instruction to improve learning. Although the principal's role as instructional leader also carries this mandate, the principal also wears other hats and is responsible for formally evaluating teacher performance. The evaluative role can sometimes short-circuit the learning aspect of observation and feedback. Therefore, the coach is the primary (and only) role in the present system designed specifically to improve instruction by working side by side with teachers on all aspects of the instructional core. Building-based coaches and other teacher leaders working in skillful and negotiated relationship with principals are the fulcrum for building this culture. The culture, in turn, is the soil in which seeds are planted in order to improve teaching and learning for both adults and students. DEFINING COACHING Coaching is more than just a role with a job description that one person carries out in a school. Coaching is a strategic, systemic approach to improving student learning that has these purposes and practices: * Coaches and teachers engage in public teaching in front of one another, with the expectation and practice of giving and receiving rigorous feedback aimed at improving student learning. * Staff members regularly consult and ask each other for help. * Staff meet in regular groups to discuss how to improve instruction of specific concepts and skills in their curriculum as evidenced in student learning. They do so with honesty and nondefensive self-examination, inquiring into their practices and preferences to study the effect they have on students. * Questions related to practice permeate adult discourse, and they are authentic questions centering on the most tenacious and ubiquitous issues of teaching and learning. …