Student-Centered Coaching Cycles: A Structure for Instructional Coaching

If the purpose for instructional coaching is improving student learning, then coaching has to be in-depth and sustained over time. It requires a coach and teacher (or team of teachers) to determine where the students are in their learning, design and implement instruction that is differentiated, and modify the instruction to ensure that the students meet the standards. One way to provide the necessary support is by organizing coaching into cycles. This creates a structure that allows for sustained collaboration over a period of time.

Student-centered coaching cycles have the following characteristics:

• They involve in-depth work with a small group, a pair, or an individual teacher.
• They focus on a goal for student learning that is driven by the standards.
• They last approximately four to six weeks and are typically tied to a unit of study.
• They include at least one weekly thirty-to forty-five-minute planning session to analyze student work and design instruction.
• They include one to three times per week for the coach to be in the classroom for co-teaching.

Since coaching cycles are where we make the greatest impact, we advocate for coaches to spend most of their time here. Typically this means approximately 60% of a coach’s time would be in coaching cycles and the other 40% is spent supporting classroom management, collaborating with teams and in PLCs, providing resources, etc. We find that this is a healthy balance for being responsive to the teachers’ needs, and ensuring that coaching impacts both student and teacher learning.

Stages in a Coaching Cycle
It’s helpful to note that Student-Centered Coaching aligns with a backwards planning philosophy. We begin by setting a goal that is based on the standards. Then we unpack the goal into learning targets, and collect baseline data using a formative assessment that aligns with the targets. After this early work is complete, then it’s time to move into the co-planning and co-teaching part of the coaching cycle. Here is when the partnership comes to life as the coach and teacher work together to ensure that the students reach the coaching cycle goal. At the end of the cycle, it’s time to post-assess so we can celebrate the students’ growth and how the teacher evolved in the use of their effective instructional practices.

When coaching cycles are with groups of teachers, we follow the same process. We set a goal with the group and then work collaboratively to create the learning targets. Then we move through the process for capturing baseline data. The co-planning process also occurs as a group and is anchored by the coach rotating to each of the teachers’ classrooms on a weekly basis for co-teaching. Since co-teaching is such a vital component of a coaching cycle, we recommend limiting the number of teachers in group cycles to four or less to ensure that each teacher gets a co-teaching opportunity each week throughout the cycle. Lastly, we post assess the students based on the original goal and celebrate the growth that occurred. What a great way to build collective teacher efficacy.

In Closing
Coaching cycles provide a way to engage in deep professional learning that bring instructional practices to life in the classroom. They are the bedrock of Student-Centered Coaching, upon which meaningful and measurable learning is able to take place.