by Jornea A. Erwin
Instructional Partner
Harvest Elementary
Schools across America are continuously searching for ways to continuously improve. One trend has been to hire someone as an instructional coach. It’s not just hiring an instructional coach that will bring about change; a strategic plan that includes everyone be the true change agent.
In an easy-to-read new book, Instructional Coaches and the Instructional Leadership Team: A Guide for School-Building Improvement, Dean T. Spaulding and Gail M. Smith provide a framework for schools interested in using an instructional coach for improvement.
Spaulding and Smith suggest that in order to have a strong instructional coach, there needs to be an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) in schools, which includes administration, teacher leaders and the instructional coach. The team should initially play an active part in defining the role and responsibilities of the instructional coach so that everyone understands the purpose for this partnership.
This team, the authors propose, should also create school goals based on data and use this document as the focus for improvement efforts. A six-step approach is suggested for the ILT to guide improvement. The instructional coach is then the person to carry out the plan put in place by the ILT.
Spaulding and Smith believe it is imperative that this team meets often, in addition to daily or weekly meetings between the instructional coach and principal. To help demonstrate the potential of their model, the authors include a year of coach, teacher and principal reflections. These imagined private journal entries will ring true for many coaches and make it evident that this is a transformation which takes time.
The power of partnership
Whether you are a new coach in your building, or a veteran coach who might see value in using a leadership team, this approach to coaching will open your eyes to the power of partnerships. Coaches have to build trusting relationships for true partnerships to emerge. In situations where a whole-school instructional partnership has been achieved, everyone in the building is a coach — assisting, mentoring and learning with and from each other.
The authors relay in multiple scenarios that it’s okay to fail, so long as we reflect, learn from the ineffective practice, and try something new. There are many suggestions offered to begin working with teachers in the building, to increase teacher engagement, and to introduce strategies that can strengthen relationships with reluctant teachers. The suggestions are a great starting point for anyone wondering “what should I do next?”
Action research can be powerful, too
I truly enjoyed reading about the potential of action research to improve practices and student achievement. The authors show how action research can become contagious and make its appearance at any level in a school. It can reduce teacher anxiety about examining what we do, because action research is not about evaluating teachers but trying to see which strategies and practices have a positive effect on student learning.
In this framework, the traditional role of professional development, which is linear (professional development > change in teacher attitude > change in teacher classroom practices > change in students’ learning outcomes), shifts into a cyclical model.
The cycle begins with the ILT selecting evidence-based instructional strategies to be implemented building wide. Professional development is still in play, but it is the instructional coach’s role to partner with teachers to “field-test” the strategies in their classrooms (action research). Data is collected and discussed, and the ILT determines whether a strategy is effective for the students or needs to be modified — and whether there’s a need to provide more PD or coaching opportunities.
A very helpful and insightful book
The cherries on top of Instructional Coaches and the Instructional Leadership Team are the helpful reflection questions at the end of each chapter, the frequent tips from instructional coaches, and the “toolbox” provided. The toolbox includes various surveys, including a needs assessment and instructional coach planning sheets. If you’re an IP, that’s going to sound sweet. (Table of Contents)
This book, jointly published by Corwin and Learning Forward, would be great for anyone who is an instructional coach/partner or for school leaders who are considering hiring someone for this role. If your school has an instructional leadership team, this would also be a helpful book study.
I enjoyed every moment of this book, and I know it will help me continuously refocus and refine the work I do each day with my teacher partners in my building.
Jornea A. Erwin is the instructional partner at Harvest Elementary School in Madison County (AL). Jornea grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, “but I have grown to love and appreciate what Alabama has to offer,” she says. Jornea earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education in 2002 from Loyola University and a Master of Education Degree in Educational Leadership (2009) from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She’s taught in St. Charles Parish (LA); Decatur City (AL) and Madison County (AL). She is married and has two daughters, Sherry Grace (3) and Jade Marie (1).
