As you may or may not know, the role of instructional coach is currently undergoing a shift. In previous years, roles and responsibilities were primarily determined on site, based on building need. Last year, the district established the goal of utilizing instructional coaches in more of an educational coaching role. This year, the district is providing direct professional development to instructional coaches around educational coaching, and we have to say, we are very excited! It is based on the work of Diane Sweeney, and focuses on student centered coaching.

Through student centered coaching, our main purpose is to support and assist teachers in reaching their goals for student learning. Our focus and discussions will be on using data and student work from the classroom (beyond test scores!) to analyze student learning, and collaborate to make informed decisions about instruction.

We would like the opportunity to work with you in a formal coaching cycle that typically lasts 4-6 weeks. What can you expect in the coaching cycle? It will be a partnership, where we will work together to look at student work, plan lessons, and co-teach. You will choose the focus, based on what would benefit your students the most. Once a week we will meet together for a 30- to 45- minute planning session to analyze assessments or student work, discuss lessons and teaching methods, and use this information to drive further instruction. This may include work to plan lessons / analyze data around your TEKS.

We are incredibly excited for this shift in instructional coach focus. You are an incredibly skilled staff, and we are looking forward to partnering with you (and learning from you) as we work together to impact student learning!

Sincerely,

Teaching and Learning Team

Katrina, Jennifer, Mandy, Janelle, & Jonathan