The purpose of peer coaching is to positively impact student achievement by creating a culture of continual instructional improvement through structured and allocated time for professional conversations, observations, and reflection on the authentic application of best practices in every classroom.
Peer Coaching will:
ü Stimulate a professional dialogue focused on increased instructional skill.
ü Cultivate an open and safe learning environment for teachers.
ü Increase awareness of individual teachers’ expertise as instructional leaders.
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Einstein said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." A coach can help you shift your thinking into that new perspective.
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Benefits of Peer Coaching
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Is there a link between coaching and growth in student achievement?
ü According to multiple researchers, such as Wenglinsky and Sanders & Rivers, “the single most dominating factor affecting student academic gain is teacher effect."
ü The National Foundation for the Improvement of Education asserts that "continuous teacher learning is the key to helping students achieve high standards of learning and that the profession itself must take responsibility for weaving continuous learning into the fabric of the teaching job."
Is coaching worth the investment?
ü Showers and Joyce found that teachers who worked with coaches:
o Practiced new strategies more often and with greater skill than teachers who were not coached.
o Retained and increased their new skills over time; teachers who were not coached did not.
o Demonstrated a clearer understanding of the purposes and uses of the new strategies than teachers who were not coached.
ü Coached teachers were more likely than non-coached peers to transfer newly acquired teaching practices in to classroom use. Coaching also contributed significantly to higher student achievement scores.
ü Rate of implementation after 6 months: Baker found that higher rates of implementation and continued use persisted for coached teachers. Non-coached teachers delayed initial use of the target skill and could not use the new skill six months after they had learned it.
“Individuals learn best when they have ownership of a situation and take some form of personal responsibility for the outcome.” Jim Knight
Why Peer Coaching in Schools?
For schools Peer Coaching provides:
ü a continual, differentiated and self-sustaining professional development program run entirely from within the school.
ü a professional development program that can be linked to other school goals or programs.
ü structured reflection and improvement
ü the purposeful growth of school leaders.
ü Improved instruction for every teacher.
For teachers, Peer Coaching provides:
ü time for teacher self-reflection and improvement
ü collaboration on instruction and increased teacher partnerships.
ü non-judgmental feedback.
ü observation of differing instructional styles and techniques.
