Instructional Leadership Routines Resources

Improving Teaching Practice with Instructional Coaching

Summary  
This brief is one in a series from EdResearch for Recovery Design Principles aimed at providing K-12 education decision-makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students and support teachers by improving practice with instructional coaching.

Booker, L. N., & Russell, J. L. (2022). Improving Teaching Practice with Instructional Coaching. EdResearch for Recovery Design Principles Series. EdResearch for Recovery Project.

GROW Coaching Template

Summary
The GROW Model is a coaching framework that might be used in conversations, meetings and everyday leadership situations with the goal of developing an individual’s potential and identifying possibilities. Two premises of the model are that everyone has the potential to develop and improve themselves, and using questions rather than instructions helps to foster ownership and change.

The GROW Coaching template is a tool that might be used by leaders in conjunction with coaching skills and behaviors. The GROW coaching template is a way of structuring an effective coaching conversation.

Heath, M. (2013, July 31). Coaching and the grow model. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNLRo3jWPcg  

The GROW Model of Coaching and Mentoring. MindTools. (n.d.). https://www.mindtools.com/an0fzpz/the-grow-model-of-coaching-and-mentoring

Whitmore, J. (2009).  Coaching for performance: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose-The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership.  Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

PLC Meeting Feedback Tool

Summary
The PLC Data Meeting Monitoring Feedback Tool, allows leaders observing the PLC teaming process to provide efficient and actionable feedback to participants. This tool outlines the key observable behaviors and processes that should take place during a PLC data meeting.

Adapted from: DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work™.

“What to Look For” Observation Guides

Summary
This resource from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides “What to Look For” Observation Guides for English Language Arts & Literacy, Mathematics, and Science & Technology/Engineering classrooms.  This resource also contains Foundational Skills What to Look Fors.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2021, April 30). “What to Look For” Observation Guides. https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/observation/

Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol (TDOP)
2.1 Users Guide

Summary  
The Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol (TDOP) is a descriptive classroom observation protocol that provides robust and nuanced depictions of instructional behavior. Classrooms and lecture halls are complex learning environments, and descriptions of what actually happens during a class period can provide valuable insights into the nature of these environments for a variety of purposes including institutional assessment, professional development, and research/program evaluation. This protocol is designed to provide descriptions of teaching practice rather than an evaluative judgment of the quality of teaching.

Hora, M., & Ferrare, J. (2014). The teaching dimensions observation protocol (TDOP) 2.0. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison. Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

7 Principles of Active Observation

Summary
Rutherford Learning Group, Inc. is a research and professional development consultancy focused on high performance teaching and effective leadership.  The ten-minute podcast, notes on 7 Principles of Active Observation, and notes on Become a Keen Observer of Classroom Environments support district and building leaders as they seek to improve their observation practices.

Rutherford Learning Group. https://rutherfordlg.com/