Instructional Leadership in Student-Focused Coaching: Creating Effective Systems to Cultivate Student Success
Instructional Leadership in Student-Focused Coaching
Introduction
Educational supervisors must manage the health and safety of individuals in their schools and organizations, connect and develop relationships with students and teachers, support families and community members, respond to directives from superiors, manage and hold staff members accountable for their roles and responsibilities, and show results for student learning. They must lead instruction such as learning about and successfully helping teachers bridge research- and evidence-based practices to classroom instruction, modeling their learning and expectations for others, and shaping the conditions for successful coaching (Fullan, 2014; Hasbrouck & Michel, 2022). They also have a responsibility to guide the work of cafeteria workers; custodial staff; academic and behavior specialists; social workers; speech-language pathologists; and—the focus of this book—Student-Focused Coaches.
Supervisors play a critical role in the successful implementation of the Student-Focused Coaching (SFC) model. This includes learning about and implementing instructional coaching skills and strategies, understanding how to partner with a coach, and deciding how to measure the impact coaching has on instruction. Each of these can be a challenging task for a supervisor.
We use the term “coach” throughout this book to refer to any individual who provides coaching to their colleagues (e.g., instructional coach, department chair, lead teacher) and “supervisor” as a general term for a person whose primary purpose is to manage and lead a school or organization (e.g., school principal, head teacher, assistant superintendent).
From our experiences nationally and internationally, we know that coaching can be rewarding and challenging. It is rewarding when teachers seek out support to improve their craft, when they adjust instructional practices to meet diverse student needs, and when these changes lead to student growth.
Responsibilities
An SFC coach guides and supports the planning and implementation of effective practices to support optimal student progress. This includes developing and delivering differentiated, sustained professional learning experiences that focus on the implementation of research- and evidence-based instructional practices.
Table I.1. Instructional Coach Responsibilities
| Responsibilities | Examples | Non-examples |
|---|---|---|
| Developing and delivering differentiated, sustained professional learning activities for various stakeholder groups (e.g., teachers, family members) | Assisting colleagues with analyzing student data or evidence from at least three data sources to identify a skill or strategy to focus on | Analyzing the data alone |
| Outcome: Enhanced student learning by implementing research- and evidence-based instructional practices | Planning strategic, ongoing professional learning that includes study, demonstrations, and practice on how to teach the skill or strategy with diverse students | Delivering one professional development session focused on a skill or strategy and then monitoring implementation |
The SFC process is not a directive or top-down approach, with the coach trying to fix the teacher or make teachers do anything. An SFC coach has no power or authority; they are teachers, working in a different role, who provide support to their peer colleagues to enhance student learning. With your support, an SFC coach can focus on developing and delivering differentiated, sustained professional learning and providing ongoing assistance to support colleagues with successfully implementing research- and evidence-based instructional practices with their students.
Student-Focused Coaching
In Student-Focused Coaching, Hasbrouck and Michel (2022) defined SFC as a “cooperative, ideally collaborative, professional relationship with colleagues mutually engaged in efforts that help maximize every teacher’s skills and knowledge to enhance student learning” (p. xi).
Key Principles of SFC:
- Cooperative, Ideally Collaborative: SFC coaches are colleagues who work with and alongside their peer colleagues to influence student learning; they are not supervisors or evaluators.
- Professional Relationship With Colleagues: Positive and trusting relationships are essential to establishing a coach and colleague partnership. Each person brings knowledge to contribute to a coaching conversation.
- Mutually Engaged: Each teacher brings knowledge and skills to a coaching conversation, and it is up to the coach to create the conditions that allow for teacher input to solve a problem.
Conclusion
To successfully implement an instructional coaching model, clearly defined roles and responsibilities must be communicated and adhered to by both coaches and supervisors. This focus on collaborative coaching not only enhances teacher practice but empowers the entire educational community toward improved student outcomes.