How Teacher Coaching Can Boost School Success

Learn how teacher coaching can transform struggling schools into success stories.

The current education environment presents numerous challenges that stand in the way of school success. Of all the difficulties schools face, one of the most disappointing is unprepared and ineffective teachers.

Often, new teachers are haphazardly thrown into unfamiliar and intimidating school settings, or veteran teachers start to notice that older teaching tools aren’t as effective as they used to be.

Luckily, teacher coaching is a powerful way to encourage professional development among teachers and boost school success!

Read on to discover the ways instructional coaching can improve teacher performance and propel key indicators of success in your school or district.

Ensuring Successful Implementation of New Teaching Strategies

Learning new and improved teaching strategies is the best way for teachers to develop into more effective educators. But without proper support, these techniques won’t actually make it into the classroom.

Studies indicate that teachers successfully implement new teaching strategies learned in the most common professional development format — a summer workshop — about 15% of the time.

However, successful implementation skyrockets to 85% if any newly acquired teaching techniques are followed up by instructional coaching.

What makes the difference?

Simply put, coaching enables teachers to apply new skills more deeply, frequently, and consistently.

Practice-based coaching provides the intensive, individualized support that’s needed when figuring out how to translate education theory into action.

Keeping the Focus on Teaching and Learning

Effective coaching spreads out leadership responsibility across schools, encouraging improvement in education by maintaining a laser-like focus on teaching and learning.

This approach promotes the development of critical leadership skills, professional learning, and sustained support for teachers, targeting improvements that boost student performance in the classroom and beyond.

Effective instructional coaching also centers the important role that schools play in youth development.

Coaching promotes a collaborative culture where large numbers of school personnel develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for leading improvement efforts in teaching and learning.

Encouraging a Proven, Data-Based Approach to Teaching

Because instructional coaching integrates ongoing, consistent follow-ups into the overall professional development program, reliable data is used to track progress in the classroom and measure the success of recommended adjustments.

This data-based approach to implementing changes in the classroom reveals what’s working and what’s not.

It shows teachers where they’re succeeding and where there is room for improvement, and it enables teacher coaches to devise customized action plans that target specific issues.

SchoolMint can help you with the collection of and tracking of this data through the teacher coaching platform SchoolMint Grow.

Promoting Positive Cultural Changes School-Wide

The impact of coaching often goes well beyond just improving instruction in the classroom.

Creating an environment that will be conducive to a successful coaching program can bring about positive changes to the greater culture of a school or district.

Implementation of a coaching program creates a valuable opportunity to revamp a broader educational ecosystem.

Conclusion

Overall, research and data reveal a profoundly positive correlation between instructional coaching and student success.

Coaching programs ignite curiosity and passion in teachers and give them both the tools and guidance to help their students achieve.

Teacher coaching can transform struggling schools into success stories.