It is said that the greatest impact on student achievement is teacher success! We, at NHS, have identified this high leverage truth and spent the last three years setting the foundation for implemenitng rigorous practices to enhance student achieving through coaching! Being a part of a campus on its third year roll-out of instructional design reform requires continuous instructional strategies to be implemented that move the needle towards student success. Professional learning must move beyond isolated workshops and adopt a model that is ongoing, collaborative, and grounded in the work necessary to impact student achievement. The "sit-and-get" directives model is no longer sufficient in sustaining effective teachers. The research is clear: focused professional learning experiences that focus on content significantly improve teacher practices and student achievement. (Wei et al., 2009).

Gulamhussein (2013) emphasizes that teachers require extended time and support to internalize and implement strategies effectively. This means that the duration of time and modeling during the process must be sufficient for teachers to have time to engage in their learning and create models to implement in their classrooms. 

As instructional leaders, we have the responsibility to create these moments of learning success. As Duarte (2010) reminds us, "the audience is the hero," and teachers must see themselves as the heroes of their classrooms, creating better futures for their students. This professional learning segment, for which I am responsible, is the third set in our Playbook 2.0 series, which we will implement this year to refine previous professional development by introducing a talking toolkit to encourage guided academic discourse. This is the final level of deepening rigor, and I look forward to seeing the results of its implementation.

On-Going PL Sequence

I.Module 1: The Instructional Playbook (Leadership Team) - August-September

Primary Target Audience: All Core Content 

• Purpose & Activity: (Instructional Leadership Team):

  • Facilitate DDI & PLCs

  • Model strategies and coach in the moment

  • Maintain accountability and resource curation

• Responsible Parties and Duties

  • Instructional Leadership Team

  • Ongoing Support Using See It Name It Do It Protocol

  • Unpacking TEKS & Lesson Plan Checklist

II. Module 2: Intentional Questioning (EB Specialist) - October-December

Primary Target Audience: All New Core Content Teachers

• Purpose & Activity:

  • Introduce Research on Talking in the Classroom

  • Model types of questioning protocols (Cold Call, Turn & Talk, Etc)

  • Incite the importance of the 70/30 rule

• Responsible Parties and Duties

  • Special Population Groups

  • Sped department to create specialized PL for new teachers

  • EB department to provide supports and sentence stems for new teachers

• Resources Needed:

  • Slides

  • Learner guide

  • Successes from last year

III. Module 3: Guided Discourse with Student Feedback (My Target) - January-April

Primary Target Audience: 9–11th Grade EOC Teachers

• Purpose & Activity: (Instructional Coaches):

  • Introduce Effective Strategy

  • Model Expectations of Discourse

  • Provide Support in a Constructive student feedback protocol

• Responsible Parties (Avant and Others):

  • Math Instructional Coach

  • Science Instructional Coach

  • Humanities Instructional Coach

• Resources Needed:

  • Participant Guide

  • Card Sort Activity

  • Binder Rings

  • Toolkit assembled

  • Technology Tool For recording

Observation Protocol (In-Class Tool for Questioning)

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2019). Data-driven instruction 2.0: A guide for teachers and school leaders. Jossey-Bass.

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2018). Leverage leadership 2.0: A practical guide to building exceptional schools. Jossey-Bass.

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2016). Get better faster: A 90-day plan for coaching new teachers. Jossey-Bass.

Duarte, N. (2010). Resonate: Present visual stories that transform audiences. Wiley.

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education.

TED. (2018, June 6). Why everyone needs a coach [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCsGxPQwI1s

Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional learning in the learning profession: A status report on teacher development in the U.S. and abroad. National Staff Development Council.