Coaching

"It is imperative that districts make meaningful choices about the coaching model they invest their money and time in implementing. Without a broad base of knowledge, it is unlikely that coaching can have the greatest impact upon the teachers and students who need it the most."
—Tiffany Wiencken, Instructional Coach Facilitator
Beaverton School District, OR

"A must-read for any administrator who employs coaches on their campus and for anyone who acts as a coach, teacher leader, facilitator, or mentor."
—Candace Bixler, Educational Specialist
Education Service Center, Region XIII, Austin, TX

Practical guidelines for selecting the right type of coaching for your teachers and students!

Coaching supports teacher development and puts teachers′ needs at the heart of professional learning by individualizing their learning and by positioning them as professionals. With many different models available, administrators may find it challenging to determine the kind of coaching that best fits the needs of schools, teachers, and students.

This fresh new resource brings together the voices of recognized experts in the field—including Joellen Killion, Cathy Toll, Jane Ellison, Randy Sprick, Jane Kise, Karla Reiss, Lucy West, and Jim Knight—to present unique approaches for coaching teachers and leaders. Comprehensive chapters review the roles of coaches in schools, examine the research base on coaching, and provide in-depth discussions of specific approaches to coaching, including:

• Literacy coaching
• Cognitive coaching
• Instructional coaching
• Content-focused coaching
• Classroom management coaching
• Leadership coaching

Coaching helps readers make more informed choices about a range of coaching approaches to best serve the unique needs of their teachers and schools.

Dr. Jim Knight, Founder and Senior Partner of Instructional Coaching Group (ICG), is also a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than two decades studying professional learning and instructional coaching. Jim earned his PhD in Education from the University of Kansas and has won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards. The pioneering work Jim and his colleagues have conducted has led to many innovations that are now central to professional development in schools. Jim wrote the first major article about instructional coaching for the Journal of Staff Development, and his book Instructional Coaching (2007) offered the first extended description of instructional coaching. Jim’s book Focus on Teaching (2014) was the first extended description of how video should be used for professional learning. Recently, writing with Ann Hoffman, Michelle Harris, and Sharon Thomas, Jim introduced the idea of instructional playbooks with their book on that topic. Jim has written several books in addition to those described above, including Unmistakable Impact (2011), High-Impact Instruction (2013), Better Conversations (2015), The Impact Cycle (2018), and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching (2021). Knight has also authored articles on instructional coaching and professional learning in publications such as Educational Leadership, The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, and Kappan. Jim is also a columnist for Educational Leadership and. Through ICG, Knight conducts coaching workshops, hosts the Facebook Live Program, “Coaching Conversations,” and provides consulting for coaching programs around the world.