Instructional Coaching Support at the Local, Regional, State, and National Levels
The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Public School Initiatives team developed a professional learning series about coaching and began providing targeted support this year for instructional coaches at the local, regional, state, and national levels.
Locally, Dr. Daryl Michel began a yearlong instructional coaching series in the Southside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. Instructional coaches and some teacher leaders attend monthly sessions to learn about the instructional coaching role, explore ways to deliver professional development and lead effective meetings, learn methods to provide differentiated support for teachers, and apply newly learned skills within the context of classrooms.
Regionally, Dr. Genise Henry is currently providing support for instructional specialists at Education Service Center 12 in Waco, Texas. This yearlong coaching series includes onsite and virtual professional learning opportunities for all content-area specialists. Instructional specialists are developing a systemwide coaching model, learning about a comprehensive needs assessment, and exploring ways to differentiate support for teachers throughout the region.
At the state level, Drs. Daryl Michel and Genise Henry developed instructional coaching content within a literacy context and presented to reading specialists during the inaugural Reading Excellence Team Fall Training Conference in December 2016. The conference was held for reading excellence team reading specialists representing Education Service Center regions 5 (Beaumont), 12 (Waco), 18 (Midland), and 20 (San Antonio). Dr. Michel’s topic was Instructional Coaching: Leaders in Professional Learning, and Dr. Henry’s topic was Building Teacher Capacity with K–1 Literacy Achievement Academies. The reading excellence team pilot program is part of the Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.0061 and was adopted by Senate Bill 935, 84th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2015. The program aims to fund reading instruction specialists who present professional development and provide onsite support for teachers and campus leaders to increase their knowledge and skills of early reading instruction with an overarching goal of improving student reading outcomes in eligible Texas school districts.
Nationally, Dr. Michel and Dr. Henry presented at the Nevada Department of Education 2016 Summer Institute. Their presentation was on peer coaching as a way to build capacity and sustain instructional coaching efforts, academic vocabulary, and instructional leadership.
Contact IPSI at support@ipsi.utexas.edu or at 512.232.5684 if you want to learn more about support we can provide to your school or district.
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