Digital Promise Issues Instructional Coaching Playbook
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 08/03/20
Digital
Promise
has developed a guide to help schools and districts develop their
teacher coaching programs. The "Instructional
Coaching Playbook"
covers why coaches are needed and how to develop or improve a
successful coaching program.
The
contents of the playbook are based on three years of research done
through the Dynamic
Learning Project pilot,
an instructional coaching program and research study that Digital
Promise developed with Google's
education division
and EdTechTeam,
a company that provides professional development services for
educators.
The
pilot reached instructional technology coaches and school leaders in
163 schools in 32 school districts, with a mix of mentoring,
professional development and continuous improvement data.
According
to the research project, well-designed coaching increased teacher
retention, transformed teacher learning, improved teacher
instructional practices and student outcomes, and improved the school
culture. The program found that compared to those teachers who didn't
get the coaching, those who did "used technology more frequently
and in more impactful ways with their students, which resulted in
increased student engagement and learning." The Google
for Education Certified Coach Program
grew out of the pilot.
The
new playbook covers three main topics:
-
Why
teachers need coaches, and how to make a case for establishing
coaching in the school or district or boosting the coaching program
that already exists;
-
How
to create a "sustainable and scalable" coaching program;
and
-
What
the principles are for building the coach-teacher relationship that
are the foundation for any successful coaching program.
"As
schools rapidly shifted to remote learning this spring due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that those schools that already had a
digital learning coach had an advantage. Coaches were incredibly
valuable as thought partners and problem solvers as teachers sought
to support student learning at home," said Digital Promise
President and CEO, Karen Cator, in a statement. "The strategies
and recommendations outlined in the new 'Instructional Coaching
Playbook' will position more schools and districts for success."
The
"Instructional Coaching Playbook" is openly available on
the Digital Promise website.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.