How Instructional Coaching Impacts Student Learning

What Instructional Coaches Do

“An increasing number of school systems have carved a new professional role…Whatever the name of this role, it is a complex role.  People in it are part teacher, part leader, part change agent, and part facilitator.  Regardless of their title or job description, instructional coaches have at least two things in common.  First, their mission is to assist teachers in learning and applying the new knowledge and skills necessary to improve the academic performance of all students.  Second, instructional coaches spend a significant portion of their working day in direct contact with teachers, in their schools and classrooms.”

Joellen Killion and Cindy Harrison
Taking the Lead:  New roles for Teachers and School-based Coaches, 2006

Collaborating With Teacher Teams

The instructional coach program is designed to assist teachers so that high levels of effective teaching will impact on and continuously improve student learning and achievement.

The instructional coaches follow a specific plan of action in working with teachers in their schools.  This action model cycle specifies how the coaches do their work and mirrors how teachers work with students.  For example, coaches first must build relationships with others, just as teachers work to build relationships with students.  And at any given point, coaches are able to identify how they are working on the continuous cycle.

Depending on a variety of individual school factors, the instructional coaches then work with either individual teachers or teams of teachers performing the coaching work.  The coaching work, whether with a new teacher, a veteran teacher or a group of teachers will always center on the bottom line:  reading, math, and closing the gap in a culture of collaboration.  If possible and given specific school conditions, instructional coaches in FCPS are asked to allocate their time so that they spend 10 percent in their own professional development, 30 percent working with individual teachers, and 60 percent working with teams of teachers.

The Evaluation Process

In collaboration with the Department of Accountability, a model for evaluating the impact of the instructional coaching program on all 25 schools has been developed.  The cluster coaching program model is designed to measure both short-term and long-term outcomes of instructional coaching.

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