Supporting Teacher Growth

CAL APA CYCLE 3

Overview

Vaughn is committed to developing coaching opportunities that offer immersive and collaborative experiences to support teacher growth and development, aligning with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP). Since 2021, Vaughnt has embraced the RELAY Graduate School of Education coaching model. This approach involves directors, curriculum coordinators, and instructional coaches working together to provide coaching to teachers. Teachers engage in four monthly coaching cycles, includi goal-setting, ongbservation, feedback, and action-planning sessions. The intended outcome of the RELAY coaching is to engage in teacher development, reflective practice, and skills to increase differentiated instructional practices and maintain a higher learning expectation for all students rather than evaluation. However, despite its good intentions, ensuring consistent implementation remains challenging due to concerns about fidelity.

The forms for the RELAY coaching model are initially restricted to the specified roles mentioned earlier. However, after consulting with instructional coaches, additional resources were made accessible. These include the scope and sequence form, teacher lesson plan, video tool, observation tracker, and planning form. These forms are derived from the principles outlined in the Get Better Faster book by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, which was also generously provided to me. However, before the RELAY coaching model, instructional coaches provided professional development training to teachers, particularly in classroom management and academic rigor. These pieces of training include modeling a range of instructional strategies such as establishing routines, monitoring, and strategic prompting for classroom management, as well as developing effective lesson plans that address the diverse educational needs of all students.

Pre-observation meetings with teachers are structured into three sessions, spaced over 30-day intervals, to ensure focused and manageable strategy selection aligned with teachers' goals. During these meetings, coaches and teachers collaboratively assess management and rigor practices, choose strategies, and co-create or review lesson plans relevant to the selected strategy. This phase incorporates video demonstrations, reflective questioning, and practice sessions to address any identified gaps. Following this, coaches and teachers complete the observation tracker, sharing insights with directors of instruction and site principals.

Post-observation conferences, lasting approximately an hour, allow teachers and coaches to debrief classroom observations. Utilizing the observation and feedback form, coaches reinforce observation goals, commend effective practices, and guide teachers through reflective questioning. Together, they analyze lesson videos, offer feedback, and outline the next steps for improvement. This cyclical process repeats at least four times per semester, ensuring ongoing support and growth for teachers.

Main Activities

When working with volunteer teachers, a challenge arose from their negative experiences with RELAY; they felt it needed to be more collaborative to support their ideas or feelings around instructional growth. To address this challenge, I spent a session utilizing adult learning to understand their concerns, validate them, and foster a supportive and empowering environment where the teacher felt heard and valued, ultimately enhancing their trust, engagement, and effectiveness in the coaching process.

Time management posed a significant challenge, given both the teacher's and my busy schedules. To tackle this, I proactively scheduled regular meetings in advance, taking into account our availability. These meetings were purposeful, focused, and productive, with a specific agenda shared with the volunteer teacher beforehand. This ensured that we were adequately prepared and could maximize our time together.

Additionally, my lack of understanding of the RELAY coaching model, which I was not exposed to or applied on a regular basis, presented another hurdle. To address this, I created visual aids outlining the steps involved in the coaching cycle. I consulted and shared these aids with the instructional coaches, who constantly used RELAY, and they provided feedback before sharing it with the volunteer teacher. This proactive step helped clarify everyone's expectations, ensured transparency, allowed room for grace in the process, and ultimately kept us on track throughout the coaching cycle. Moreover, I maintained regular check-ins with the volunteer teacher, informally and formally, between coaching cycles. These check-ins enabled us to stay connected and address any concerns or issues during the coaching process, fostering a supportive and effective coaching relationship.

Cycle 3 Observation Form

CSTP Observation

Cycle 3 Student Work-2.pdf

Student Work

Cycle 3 Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Reflection

During the pre-planning meeting and post-observation session, the volunteer teacher praised my coaching abilities, particularly highlighting my skill in establishing a positive rapport through open-ended questioning. This approach fostered two-way conversations throughout the coaching process, allowing the volunteer teacher to quickly identify areas of professional strength and development in student learning. Additionally, the volunteer recognized my proficiency in using data to provide timely, constructive suggestions about his instructional practices. In addition, it is important to swiftly identify relevant evidence and providece-based resources aligned with the needs of students who require additional academic support. Establishing rapport swiftly enhances dialogue, understanding, authenticity, and trust, essential for successful working relationships. For example, expressing gratitude for their participation in the coaching process and discussing their professional development contributed to the strong rapport we developed. Furthermore, leveraging the teacher's clear vision of needed support enabled us to focus on effectively capturing data for the CSTP standard.

Another strength I displayed was my adeptness at asking open-ended questions and showing genuine interest in the teacher's perspective, especially considering their extensive teaching experience. This approach enabled us to pinpoint the CSTP standards that were most relevant and meaningful to the volunteer teacher. Consequently, the observation data collected aligned closely with their definitions. This alignment facilitated connections between the observation data and other data points, such as weekly tests and support strategies tailored to meet students' needs.

Upon reflection, I've identified several areas for improvement in my coaching approach. Firstly, I realized the importance of refining the types of questions I ask. Moving forward, I aim to incorporate higher-order thinking questions to encourage deeper reflection on the teacher's thought processes and insight into missed opportunities. By prompting deeper reflection, I hope to reveal richer insights and enhance the coaching experience. Additionally, I acknowledged the need to be more intentional about my physical position in the classroom during observations. This will help minimize distractions and provide a better experience for the volunteer teacher, students, and myself.

Through this coaching process, I have reflected on my own practice as a coach and how I will transfer these skills to being an equity-driven school leader. For example, in adopting Duncan-Andrade's notion of critical hope, I recognized the improvement of using dignity in the coaching process. This means treating the volunteer teacher with respect, fairness, and empathy, which in turn empowers him to take ownership of their professional development. Furthermore, this enhances the volunteer teacher’s sense of a safe and supportive space where he can explore his obstacles and challenges, which ultimately contribute to creating a more equitable and supportive educational environment for all students.

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