Our model for instructional coaching is grounded in research on schools as “professional communities of practice,” in which professional development is most effective when it includes job-embedded components, uses deliberate, authentic practice tasks allowing for follow-up and continuous feedback, and focuses on student learning and connections to actual curriculum and practice (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009; McLaughlin & Talbert, 1993; Neufeld & Roper, 2003). The literature on coaching points to two outcomes of instructional coaching that are of particular interest: (1) instructional coaching fosters the development of collaborative, reflective practice, and (2) the use of data analysis to inform practice, focusing on strategic areas of need that are suggested by the evidence, rather than individual opinions (Barr, Simmons, and Zarrow, 2003; Neufeld & Roper, 2003).

Instructional coaching and modeling occur over a two-three day school visit in which our consultants will schedule a pre-conference with the teacher or team of teachers to establish and clarify the coaching inquiry of focus. All coaching sessions are grounded in anti-racist and culturally responsive practices. Co-planning roles are defined and executed during the pre-conference. Usually, co-planning is the focus of the first full day. On the second day, the focus shifts from co-planning to co-teaching followed by the post-conference, which includes the lesson debrief and action steps.