Coach's Clipboard
August 2016
How has the IST Role Changed?
IST has changed over the years and we have redefined our role as Instructional Specialists. We have moved away from the old 30-60-90 day IST plans which then included testing students and we have morphed into more of an RtII Coordinator in our building which includes many facets. We help to coordinate tier 2 and tier 3 interventions for our struggling students, we help to facilitate PD at our district and in our building and the most important change is working on tier 1 instructional practices during core instruction through coaching in order to improve student achievement. We need a solid tier 1 before we can consider students for tier 2 or tier 3 academic or behavior interventions. If tier 2 and tier 3 interventions paired with instructional or behavioral strategies and supports are not effective, we will look at data as a DAT or SWPBS team and discuss options for students. Once all options have been tried, the team may decide to move forward with the MDE (Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation). This is the case when the team feels a replacement curriculum may be warranted. The Instructional Specialist still facilitates this conversation with teams including parents and then completes the achievement portion of the testing which includes weekly progress monitoring and monthly strategic monitoring data. On the other side of the spectrum, we test students to see if they are eligible for gifted support.
Do I Need a Coach?
Tigers Woods is an excellent golfer and yet he credits his coach for his success. Is his coach a better golfer than Tiger? No, but the coach allows Tiger to talk through and reflect about his practice.
Research suggests the most effective teachers need the most coaching because they are always willing to analyze, learn and reflect in order to increase student achievement.
We only gain 5% of the information we learn during a PD session. However, PD paired with coaching allows for 95% of an implementation rate. In other words, it is much easier to implement a new strategy or initiative with someone else such as a coach working with you.
***The most important part to remember is your work with the coach is confidential, non-evaluative or judgmental. Although, Instructional Specialists do work hand-in-hand with administration, they will never share anything with them unless you wish to share.
Research suggests the most effective teachers need the most coaching because they are always willing to analyze, learn and reflect in order to increase student achievement.
We only gain 5% of the information we learn during a PD session. However, PD paired with coaching allows for 95% of an implementation rate. In other words, it is much easier to implement a new strategy or initiative with someone else such as a coach working with you.
***The most important part to remember is your work with the coach is confidential, non-evaluative or judgmental. Although, Instructional Specialists do work hand-in-hand with administration, they will never share anything with them unless you wish to share.
What Can the Instructional Speacilist/Coach Do for Me?
The most effective approach is using the B-D-A Model- Before, During and After a Lesson. The coach and teacher meet prior to the lesson to discuss a goal (B). The coach visits the classroom during the lesson to collect data for the teacher (D) then the teacher and the coach discuss thoughts after the lesson (A). The focus will always be on our students.
Want to see a strategy in action? A coach can teach your class while you visit another classroom.
Here are some other options:
Co-Teaching: (two heads are better than one)
Here are some ideas for classroom visits with a specific goal:
Want to see a strategy in action? A coach can teach your class while you visit another classroom.
Here are some other options:
Co-Teaching: (two heads are better than one)
- new writing series lessons together
- integrate a piece of technology into a lesson together
- implementing or tweaking Daily 5 or Daily 3
- implementing or tweaking Guided Reading
- trying new DI strategies
- trying a new intervention such as CTK or Read Naturally
Here are some ideas for classroom visits with a specific goal:
- Are students using Literature Circle roles appropriately?
- Are students asking level 3 and 4 questions during lessons?
- What are students doing during D5 stations when I am with a Guided Reading group? Here are some examples of data collection tools. We can customize each tool to meet your needs.
- Teacher Action vs. Student Response
- Teacher Location vs. Student Response Data collection tool
- Student Responses to Questions