Waukesha Culture of Coaching

Article by Joseph Kanke in collaboration with Courtney Konieczka and Chris Polowy

Components: 2.a. 2.b. 3.a. 3.b. 5.a. 6.b. 6.c.

Each quarter this newsletter will highlight a success story of one district or school in their implementation of coaching. A variety of regions, district sizes, types of coaching and grade levels will be showcased. A reference to specific programs and models does not denote an endorsement from myself or the state. Rather, by sharing the many methods of coaching, your school or district may be better informed as to what might work best for you.

The Wisconsin Coaching Chronicles is my attempt to chronicle individual and system-levels stories of coaching successes. By illuminating system-level stories, I hope other districts are better positioned to replicate and carry forward this level of work. The School District of Waukesha, highlighted in this quarter’s chronicle, has committed to keeping coaching a transparent and integral component to the learning structure. Courtney Konieczka and Chris Polowy, two coaches at Hillcrest Elementary (with whom I spent the morning chatting with), shared some of the coaching structures the School District of Waukesha has established.

When a district has established that it is, according to coach Courtney, “very supportive of us risk-taking and innovating,” and further signals this commitment by providing coaching support, a growth mindset culture becomes immediately observable across staff and students. In response to what conditions are important to have in place to have the optimal impact as a coach, both coaches agreed that system support was key to the success of this culture of coaching.

Relationships and culture, which were clearly evident at Hillcrest Elementary School, are essential to the success of any coaching model. This leads to the less visible question--How do you arrive at this culture? It turns out there is not a checklist! Each and every building and district will have an individualized context. However, there are some integral components Chris and Courtney were able to point to in our discussion.

Leadership

Leadership is the pinnacle. In the School District of Waukesha, both district and building level leadership understands that the priority of a coach is to...COACH. And virtually everyone agrees with this statement. It is not a common practice in the School District of Waukesha for coaches to be pulled to act as testing coordinators or fulfill substitute positions. According to Courtney another important leadership decision was choosing a model that made sense to meet their goals and objectives. One specific focus within their objectives is that coaching should not be considered “rescue work”. Another specific focus was that coaches were not considered, in any way, a part of the evaluation process. Chris noted that district leadership did not want coaches to be part of the evaluation process and that administration needed to avoid asking questions that might align the coach as their sidekick.

Coaching Framework

Taking into account district-level goals, the School District of Waukesha settled on implementing a framework of coaching adapted from Shaping Literate Minds by Linda Dorn and Carla Soffos and from The Art of Changing the Brain by James E. Zull. According to Zull, “Deep learning, learning for real comprehension, comes through a sequence of experience, reflection, abstraction and active testing.” Using this research and these ideas, the School District of Waukesha developed The Coaching for Self-Regulation and Transfer Framework which essentially supports educators as they move through stages based on their zone of proximal development and support from coaches. Another objective was to establish anchor classrooms in math and literacy at elementary schools across the district. Each year, a teacher can volunteer to be the anchor classroom teacher. During this year, the coach provides intensive coaching in one specific content area in order to support deep implementation of the district frameworks. Anchor classrooms in the School District of Waukesha have increased teacher capacity and helped to support systematic change in math and literacy instruction.

Ongoing Professional Learning Opportunities

When the district began the coaching journey, they invested a lot of time sending instructional coaches to content professional learning so they would be experts in their content. Soon coaches voiced that, while they did feel like experts in their specific content areas, they wanted to explore opportunities for growth specifically around their coaching skills. The district supported their request by partnering with the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA); namely their Impactful Coaching Academy. They have ongoing learning opportunities at their monthly meetings to help calibrate around instructional practice, engage in coaching scenarios and celebrations, and discuss the coaching framework.

Building Level

“We do not live in a closed door of education,” Chris stated, “Being present and available is important! Being in classrooms working with kids and teachers is vital to building a collaborative culture.” Chris and Courtney have taken this even further by supporting the Twitter movement #observeme. The two coaches launched this as a way to encourage teachers to learn and grow by observing peers in action. They modeled the movement by allowing teachers to observe them talking to teachers during a coaching cycle. Chris and Courtney hoped teachers would better understand the coaching role and how it can be an important layer of supporting professional growth and the growth of students.

Although a system of support is key to a thriving culture of coaching, true transformations take place at the partnership level between coach and client (coachee). I had the privilege of first observing and then briefly speaking with Katie Comer and Abby Lauer, two teachers working with Chris and Courtney, respectively. Katie indicated that she initially felt very apprehensive when first asked to teach math because it was not her primary background, but she partnered with Chris and worked through the curriculum. With his help, she set goals for herself and worked towards achieving them within a coaching cycle. “Whenever I feel like I made progress towards my goal, we discussed a new option.” Abby stated that she was a new teacher and while she did feel overwhelmed at times, working with her coach has helped her to overcome challenges. Both teachers indicated that they felt stronger in their profession based on the work they’ve engaged in with their coaches.

Below you will find an interview transcript where Chris and Courtney share some of their insights and lessons learned.

Interview Transcript

How do you work with reluctant coachees?

Courtney: Building relationships is key. Having conversations with teachers and allowing them to bring their voice--the ideas need to come from the teachers not from the coach. This will make the work feel more powerful. It should be about dialogue and letting the teachers get to the thinking. When they see us doing the work, modeling and coteaching shows that we are part of the team.

Chris: We developed a culture that is not an invitation model. We are embedded so much into the everyday. When I do encounter someone that is a little reluctant, I allow them to be the observer first. I’ll start with modeling.

Courtney: Focusing on the students instead of the teacher actions is helpful too. What the students say and do and what is our next move can be the focus for the coaching conversation.

Chris: And last I think a lot of the reluctance comes from feedback so we try to personalize the feedback based on individual teachers. Not everyone receives and honors feedback in the same way so it once again comes down to relationships and building a collaborative environment grounded in a growth mindset.

Tell me about a learning moment you experienced as a coach?

Chris: The one thing I’ve learned is small displays of gratitude go a long way, way longer than I would have ever imagined. What I mean by that is leaving a small note behind. I am continually pushing myself to leave something positive behind. People need that affirmation. I have a teacher that hates having anyone in the room. This teacher is really hard on herself, and doesn’t always see these things for herself. One day I left a list of great things I was seeing in her classroom. The next year I happened to notice that she had that same note taped to her laptop. This showed me that I need to take time to give that affirmation.

Courtney: The importance of crucial conversations and the importance of face-to-face conversations versus email. This is something that I continually strive to improve at. I was in a classroom and a teacher was using reading as a punishment. I knew I needed to say something, and I was going to send an email, but Chris pushed me to speak face-to-face. I approached the teacher and they agreed and were thankful that I approached her. Had I not approached her, this may have affected our relationship. If I had sent an email, it could have been interpreted many different ways. By having the conversation we preserved the relationship and the teacher is still reaching out for support.

What is one educational text that you have read recently that resonated with you? Why did you find it relevant to your practice?

Chris: Culturalized by Jimmy Casas It is the author’s evolution of leadership and how to build a culture for teachers and students to give and receive feedback.

Courtney: One thing he says is how important it is to always express positivity about your organization. You need to build a school identity and talk about how excited you are about it. Each year the staff takes a measurement of the school culture and organization. Through this book study, we saw a dip in the data and we are excited about it because now we know we are ready to push ourselves.

What are some things you’ve learned or picked up that have helped you to become a better coach?

Chris: Steering clear of deficit thinking and approach conversations with a growth mindset. There are moments when you have to be directive, but for the most part, we need to create the environment of openness, honesty and collective culture. We are all in a problem-solving mindset. That has been an evolution since I’ve been here. Let’s not admire the problem-- let’s move to what are we going to do now.

Courtney: We need to be learners too. When others see us asking for feedback, that helps to build relationships. When we as coaches get new learning, it’s exciting to try it out with students. Recently, I attended a conference and asked my teachers if I could try some of my new learning in her classroom. After I taught the class for the week, the classroom teacher and I had a conversation about what went well and what could be changed. It was great for me to get feedback from the classroom teacher as well.

CCPP Components  (search tags) 2a 2.a. 2.a 2b 2.b. 2.b 3a 3.a. 3.a 3b 3.b. 3.b 5a 5.a. 5.a 6b 6.b. 6.b & 6c 6.c. 6.c