The Return of Leadership and Coaching for Systems Change

For years, the Wisconsin RtI Center has offered a series of professional learning for coaches and leaders known as Leadership and Coaching for Systems Change. Expert coaches, Kathy Myles and Heidi Laabs were instrumental in the development and facilitation of this training. The pandemic offered them an opportunity to dive deeply into the existing series and update content to reflect new research and the revised Wisconsin Coaching Competency Practice Profile with the intent to bring the series back for the 2021-2022 academic year. In the process of redesigning the learning, both Kathy and Heidi made the choice to seek retirement and The RtI Center made the choice to hold off running the 21-22 series.

We are excited to announce the return of the series for the 22-23 academic year! Not only will the historical expertise of past leaders be included in this robust content, Joseph Kanke, Wisconsin's Statewide Coaching Coordinator, will be among the highly skilled facilitators for the 2022-23 series. He brings a statewide lens and his experience of supporting systems change. The series has been revised to five days of training and converted to be able to be provided in a virtual format. While plans are not completely finalized, the current plan is to run two cohorts; one in the fall and one in the spring.

What are the Series Outcomes?

The overarching outcome for Leadership and Coaching training in the WI RtI Center is to assist districts in sustaining an equitable multilevel system of support (E-MLSS). Effective coaching guides and facilitates learning while accounting for local variables in districts and other relevant contextual factors so that policies and practices are created and implemented well enough to achieve their intended outcomes in creating equitable outcomes for students and closing opportunity gaps.

Specific program outcomes for Leadership and Coaching training include developing strategies and practices so that participants can:

• work to dismantle biases and deficit mindsets and reform educational structures
• understand a range of coaching strategies in response to client/team needs
• use a cyclical model to structure coaching conversations in order to generate a commitment to action
• use reflective practice after coaching sessions to build coaching capacity
• identify methods for creating and sustaining a trusting, safe, and supportive environment
• anticipate, recognize, and accept resistance to change and proactively address it
• achieve the goals, objectives, and outcomes of their coaching program

Who Should Attend?

The preference for attendance of this series is that it is attended by a district or building level team with leadership representation. Team attendance is preferred because the series doesn’t only focus on individual coaching skills, but also on developing systems of support.

How do I Sign Up?

Watch for future announcements from this newsletter and make sure to keep an eye out on the RtI webpage for information about how to register.