ContentFocused Coaching

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Content-Focused Coaching

• Transforming Mathematics Lessons
• Christian County Public Schools
• September 21, 2004
• Presented by
• Sherri Heise, HSE

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Objectives

• To introduce the concept of content-focused
  coaching
  
• To provide an understanding of the development
  of a collaborative professional development model
  of teacher efficiency
  
• To become familiar with the content-focused
  coaching concepts and procedure
  
• To look in a window and a mirror at
  content-focused coaching.

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What did the research reveal?

• The impact and effectiveness of traditional
  professional development has increasingly been
  questioned by educators and researchers.

• Fullan, 1995
• Huberman, 1995
• Wilson and Berne, 1999

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What has changed?

• Efforts to introduce new teaching strategies are
  more successful if in-class coaching is
  part of the training.

• Joyce and Showers, 1995
• Showers, Joyce, and Bennett, 1987

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But?

• There is, however, no generally accepted coaching
  model specific structures, scripts, and
  procedures vary greatly.

• Anderson and Snyder, 1993
• Brand, 1989
• Costa and Garmston, 1994
• Schön, 1987

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How do businesses promote growth?

• Coaching is especially popular in business, where
  the coachs primary role is to facilitate
  reflection and growth. Coaches frequently know
  very little about the clients business.

• Thomas, 1995
• Whitmore, 1992

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What does that have to do with education?

• Coaching in the teaching profession, which is
  designed to scale up teaching expertise, must be
  much more specific.

• Coaches themselves need to be excellent teachers
  in the same discipline as the teacher being
  coached, able to provide situation-specific
  assistance adapted to that teacher.

Staub, West, and Miller, 1998 Staub, 1999 Staub,
2001
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Content Focused Coaching

• Content-Focused Coaching is a professional
  development model designed to promote student
  learning and achievement by having a coach and a
  teacher work jointly in specific settings, guided
  by conceptual tools.

• Staub, West, and Miller, 1998
• Staub, 1999
• Staub, 2001

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Content-Focused Coaching

• Content-Focused Coaching is related to
  apprenticeship, in which an apprentice is
  observed while carrying out a task and the master
  craftsman offers hints, provides support, gives
  feedback, models, gives reminders, and poses new
  tasks aimed at bettering performance.

• Collins, Brown, and Newman, 1989

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Content Focused Coaching

• Content-Focused Coaching centers on students
  learning in the lessons but is also about
  teachers learning from the process.

• Content-Focused Coaching zeroes in on the daily
  tasks of planning, teaching, and reflecting on
  lessons by suggesting a framework and tools for
  addressing standards, curriculum, principles of
  learning, and lesson design and assessment

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Content-Focused Coaching

• Content-Focused Coaching provides structures for
  ongoing professional development, rather than a
  quick fix for ineffective or marginal teachers.

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Content-Focused Coaching Structures

• Helps teachers design and implement lessons from
  which students will learn
  
• Content specific teachers plans, strategies,
  and methods are discussed in terms of students
  learning a particular subject
  
• Based on a set of core issues of learning and
  teaching
  
• Fosters professional habits of mind
• Creates an environment for sustained pedagogical
  improvement.

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Content-Focused Coaching Structures

• Enriches and refines teachers pedagogical
  content knowledge
  
• Encourages teachers to communicate with each
  other about issues of teaching and learning in a
  focused and professional manner
  

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Content-Focused CoachingComponents

• Pre-lesson Conference
• Lesson
• Post-lesson Conference

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Framework for Lesson Design
Teaching Methods
Standards
Curriculum
Lesson
HOW?
WHAT?
Theories of Learning and Teaching
WHO? Knowledge of learners.
WHY?
Educational Philosophy
Adapted from Staub, 1999, 2001
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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design
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What are the goals and the overall plan of the
lesson?

• What is your plan?
• Where in your plan would you like some assistance?

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• What is the mathematics in this lesson? (i.e.,
  make the lesson goals explicit)

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• Where does this lesson fall in this unit and why?
  (i.e., clarify the relationship between the
  lesson, the curriculum, and the standards)

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• What are students prior knowledge and
  difficulties?

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• How does the lesson help students reach the
  goals? (i.e., think through the implementation of
  the lesson)

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• How does the lesson help students reach the
  goals? (i.e., think through the implementation of
  the lesson)

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Guide to Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• How does the lesson help students reach the
  goals? (i.e., think through the implementation of
  the lesson)

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Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• Lesson goals
• Lesson plan and design
• Students relevant prior knowledge
• Relationship between the nature of the task and
  the activity on one hand and the lesson goals on
  the other hand

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Core Issues in Mathematics Lesson Design

• Strategies for students to make public their
  thinking and understanding
  
• Evidence of students understanding and learning
• Students difficulties, confusions, and
  misconceptions
  
• Ways to encourage collaboration in an atmosphere
  of mutual respect
  
• Strategies to foster relevant student discussion

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Goals Guiding the Work of the Coach

• Fostering student learning in the coached lesson.
  
  
• Supporting the professional development of the
  teachers.

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Coaching Moves

• Moves that invite teacher contribution.
• Moves that provide direct assistance with lesson
  design
  

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Conditions/Strategies for Fostering Professional
Collegiality

• The coach does not formally evaluate the teacher
• The main focus is on what the teacher can do to
  assist the students content-specific learning
  
• The coach is also a learner.
• It is deemed as a collaborative venture.

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Working with Teachers

• Diagnosing teachers needs
• Getting to know the teacher
• Observing the teacher before the coaching begins
• Conferencing and Lessons

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Diagnosing Teachers Needs

• Content knowledge and disposition toward
  mathematics
  
• Pedagogical knowledge and underlying beliefs
  about learning
  
• Pedagogical content knowledge
• Diagnosing childrens thinking and assessing
  prior knowledge
  
• Habits of planning and engagement with curriculum
  materials

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Getting to Know the Teacher

• How long have you been teaching?
• What are your favorite subjects to teach?
• How often do you teach mathematics?
• What are your feelings towards mathematics?
• Whats your math history?
• Tell me about your students.

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Getting to Know the Teacher

• Are there colleagues you enjoy working with? What
  kinds of work-related things do you do together?
  
• What are your goals as a learner? What are you
  curious about in relation to teaching and
  learning?

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Getting to Know the TeacherPriority questions

• What specifically are you interested in working
  on together?
  
• What are your major mathematical content goals
  for your students this year?
  
• What aspects of the content do you feel confident
  teaching?
  
• Which aspects are you less secure about?

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Observation Look for

• There is evidence that important mathematics is
  at the core of the lesson and that the teacher
  understands the content.
  
• Visuals/Models
• Clear summary
• Teacher response to student questions.

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Observations Look for

• The interaction student to teacher and student to
  student is respectful, confident, and
  comfortable.
  
• Sharing of ideas
• Working together
• High level questions
• Reactions to incorrect answers

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Observations Look for

• The teacher uses visual aids and models to
  concretely facilitate student understanding.
  
• Blackboard/Dry Erase Boards
• Overhead projector
• Multi-media

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Observations Look for

• Student grouping is flexible and/or task are
  modified to meet student needs.
  
• Number of students in groups
• Selection of students in groups
• Level of challenge

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Observations Look for

• Management style promotes a positive, productive
  learning community.
  
• Student reflection
• Student self-assessment
• Student input

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Observations Look for

• The arrangement of the room and location of
  supplies assist in the promotion of learning.
  
• Flexibility of seating
• Neat and organized
• Mathematical tools/manipulative easy access
• Manipulatives identifiable

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Viewing the Pre-Lesson

• Before
• Lesson Overview
• Review the Guide to Core Issues choose your
  focus area.
  
• During Choose one core issue.
• Which core issues were discussed?
• After
• Compare your issues to those that were discussed.
  
  
• Share out at your tables.
• Summarize table group reflections

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Viewing the Lesson

• Before Choose one area of focus.
• Decide on a focus. (Continue jigsaw)
• During
• Script what you see that relates to your focus.
• After
• Take a few moments to reflect on your notes.
• Share out at your tables.
• Summarize table group observations.

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Viewing the Post-conference

• Before
• What issues might I bring out with the teacher?
• During
• Which core issues were discussed?
• After
• Compare your issues to those that were discussed.
  
  
• Share out at your tables.
• Summarize table group reflections

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Next Steps

• How do you vision the implementation of
  content-focused coaching at your school?
  
• What further investigation is needed to implement
  content-focused coaching?
  
• What will be your role in implementing this model?

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Content Focused - Coaching

• Learning is a social activity somehow we must
  create professional communities in which rigorous
  dialogues on teaching and learning are the norm.
  If improvement is going to take root, then
  everyone will eventually have to participate.
• R. F. Elmore, 2001,
• Content-Focused Professional
  Development An Issue of Policy and
  Practice in Large-School Reform
  

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Content Focused - Coaching

• Little on the road to change is static and the
  journey of continuous improvement requires
  readjusting our sails time and time again.
  
• M.G. Fullan, 1999, Chang Forces The Sequel

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References

• Anderson, R., and K. Snyder, eds. 1993.
  Clinical Supervision Coaching for Higher
  Performance. Lancaster, PA Technomic Publishing
  Company.
• Brand, R., ed. 1989. Readings from Educational
  Leadership Coaching and Staff Development.
  Alexandria, VA Association for Supervision and
  Curriculum Development.
• Collins, A., J. S. Brown, and S. Newman. 1989.
  Cognitive Apprenticeship Teaching the Craft of
  Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. In Knowing,
  Learning, and Instruction, ed. L. B. Resnick,
  453-494. Hillsdale, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum
  Associates, Inc.
• Costa, A., and R. Garmston. 1994. Cognitive
  Coaching A Foundation for Renaissance Schools.
  Norwood, MA Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
  
• Fullan, M. G. 1995. The Limits and the
  Potential of Professional Development. In
  Professional Development in Education, ed. T. R.
  Guskey and M. Huberman, 258-267. New York
  Teachers College Press.
• Huberman, M. 1995. Networks That Alter
  Teaching Conceptualizations, Exchanges, and
  Experiments. Teachers and Teaching Theory and
  Practice 1 (2) 193-211.
• Joyce, B., and B. Showers. 1995. Student
  Achievement through Staff Development.
  Fundamentals of School Renewal (2nd ed.). White
  Plains, NY Longman.
• Schön, D. 1987. Educating the Reflective
  Practitioner Toward a New Design for Teaching
  and Learning in the Professions. San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass.

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References

• Showers, B., B. Joyce, and B. Bennett. 1987.
  synthesis of Research on Staff Development A
  Framework for Future Study and a State of the Art
  Analysis. Educational Leadership 45 (3)
  77-87.
• Staub, F. C. 1999. Reflection on
  Content-Focused Dialogues. Pittsburgh, PA
  University of Pittsburgh, The Institute for
  Learning.
• Staub, F. C. 2001. Fachspezifisch-padagogisches
  Coaching Forderung von Unterrichtsexpertise
  durch Unterrichtsentwicklung Content-Focused
  Coaching in teaching Fostering Teaching
  Expertise through long-term classroom-based
  assistance in design and enactment of lessons.
  Beitrage zur Lehrerbildung 119 (2) 175-198.
• Staub, F. C., L. West, and A. Miller. 1998.
  Content-Focused Coaching Scaffolding Teaching
  and Reflection on Core Issues of Instructional
  Practice. Paper presented at the American
  Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
• Thomas, A. M. 1995. Coaching for Staff
  Development. Leicester, UK The British
  Psychological Society.
  
• Whitmore, J. 1992. Coaching for Performance.
  London Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
  
• Wilson, S. M., and J. Berne. 1999. Teacher
  learning and the Acquisition of Professional
  Knowledge An Examination of Research on
  Contemporary Professional Development. Review
  of Research in Education 24 173-209.