New Year - New Tool

Written by Rachel Fregien
Education Consultant for Coaching Supports
Special Education Team - DPI
 

We know that coaching is job-embedded professional learning designed to support teachers and staff in implementing practices. We know that coaching support is beneficial for any organization, we also know that setting up a coaching system takes time and must be done with care and attention to specific steps in order to get it right.

Because folks understand the great importance coaching is to their teaching practices and lasting change, the goal is to get coaching “up and running” within a system as quickly as possible. What is often overlooked however, is that coaching is also an innovation which must first be defined in an actionable manner before it can support teaching and staff practices to fidelity.

On the DPI coaching homepage, there is a detailed description of what each stage looks like when implementing a coaching system. It steps teams through each item that must be in place in order to successfully implement coaching from a systems level. Each stage is linked to various tools and resources to aid educators and leaders throughout the process.

• Do you need to define what coaching looks and feels like to your staff? There are tools for that!
• Are there barriers or questions related to funding? There are links to help navigate IDEA and TITLE funds to support coaching.
• Do you need help creating job descriptions or interview questions for coaching positions? There’s a resource for that!
• Do your coaches need help developing coaching or professional development plans? There are resources for that!
• Are you looking for ways to build in accountability for the coaching process? There are tools for that!

This worksheet is not new and folks have been using it to track progress for some time. The coaching team at DPI is working to create more efficient ways for you to do your work. Teams can now download an online version of the Coaching System Development Worksheet and keep data virtually! This easy to use google survey allows users to personalize their coaching systems tracking data to fit their unique system’s needs.

Districts can use the electronic tracking system for each school. Teams can share if an item is “in place,” “initiated or partially in place,” or “not yet in place” as well as document evidence of implementation for data and dialogue purposes. The survey can be used annually or even more often to help teams monitor progress. Once you download the tool, the data you submit is private and only owned by your unique google system. The data submitted will be stored in google sheets for easy access. Once you own the data, you can use it to inform decisions, engage in dialogue, communicate action items, or create reports!