Differentiating Coaching for Novice and Experienced Teachers When Time is Scarce

What is your approach this upcoming year for deciding who to coach?

If I want to guess, you likely will select all the newer teachers and assign them a coaching plan while assuming your veteran teachers being coached isn’t a priority. That approach wouldn’t be completely inappropriate. We know that new teachers need support in best practices and effective veteran teachers have refined their best practices and are the experts in their content.

However, how do we avoid shortchanging the development of teachers who want more support while also appropriately onboarding new staff? And what do we do for teachers in the middle? 

Something that has become apparent lately from my conversations with teachers is that many seasoned teachers want more development opportunities. Many coaches and leaders assume that effective teachers just want to shut their doors and teach. While that is sometimes true, many teachers want more support in raising student achievement, opportunities to impact colleagues as teacher leads, they want thought partners for new ideas, and sometimes they simply want their admin to come into the room and let them know when they are doing a phenomenal job. 

All schools have a different model for coaching which may include coaching by a member of leadership, internal coaches, outside coaching partnerships, or a mixture of the three. Unfortunately, not all schools have the same model that supports robust coaching which can impact coaching capacity. 

But why even worry about coaching more experienced teachers? 

In 2023, we know schools around the nation are still recovering from lagging data following the pandemic. We know that today’s students are a part of a fast-changing society and educators need to catch up. We know that as schools revamp curriculum and test new technology that even veterans may require some level of coaching. We know that until all of our students are exactly where they should be, all of us should be reflecting on what we do for the students in front of us. But what can schools do to be strategic about teacher support?

Here are some suggestions on what to focus on with teachers at the three levels. 

3 Levels, 3 Focus Areas

1. Teacher Level: Novice

Focus Area: “Show It, Refine It”

New teachers will receive a plethora of resources and endless tips. How do you make it transferable? Coach feedback can be beautifully written, but it is even better to prioritize practice and modeling. To make sure feedback is implemented, model what you want to see for new teachers, have them observe a peer, or have them watch a video of a teacher successfully executing the move and practice. Avoid giving too much feedback at once. Even if you are limited on time, people can grow faster when they have opportunities to practice and reinforce specific feedback instead of moving on to something new too soon. Often, teachers have no idea if they have mastered a next step before receiving a new one. If coaching meetings can’t be every week or are canceled, still have a deliverable. Ask the teacher to practice or do work associated with their development. Examples can be recording themselves teaching so you can provide feedback via email, having them record themselves teaching and assessing themselves using a rubric, or having teachers fill out a reflection for the last next step you gave them. To make sure your teachers need less support later on, give them a lot in the beginning. 

2. Teacher Level: Middle of the Road

Focus Area: “Change the Focus “

This cluster in some schools can be the most neglected even if it’s unintentional. They may not need as much classroom support but may not yet be ready to mentor colleagues or try more advanced instructional practices. Class isn’t on fire - leave it alone, right? Students complete the work - so they’re all on track, right? Classroom management alone doesn’t equal high student achievement. Teacher planning and internalization of student data with strong execution is what moves student achievement. Once classroom management is solidified, coaches need to focus on what type of learning is happening in the classroom. 

These teachers can be expected to tailor their lessons more to their students. Even if your time is limited, directly name the shift in your feedback and align supports with lesson planning. Focus on one change to the lesson plan for a week or two weeks, pair it with quick visits to see the execution of what is in the lesson plan, and when you finally meet, ask them to bring student work to align with their lesson plan outcomes. Coach these teachers on how to have routines to analyze student work and respond to the data in their plans. Overtime, they likely will begin to do this independently and need less coaching. 

3. Teacher Level: Experienced

Focus Area: “Empower and Challenge”

When teachers have a track record of success, each year should still allow for an attainable new goal. This mindset allows teachers to always be innovative in their instruction and mindful of new groups of students. Working towards a goal challenges educators and helps avoid the feeling of stagnation. Often, just a few pieces of feedback relevant to their work or skill is enough to have them take initiative. For some teachers, you can create a collaborative partnership. Using the instructional framework of your school (Danielson Framework, school-based/network-based, etc.), ask them to identify an area they would like to receive the most feedback on from you. You will need fewer check-ins with these teachers and if they understand data well, allow them to walk you through their data and how they are responding to student achievement in their classes.

Other seasoned teachers may best be empowered through honing their leadership skills through coaching or mentoring other teachers which can also help lessen the coaching load on leadership. Other ideas for supporting the development of veteran teachers are: asking them to pilot a new proposed curriculum or initiative, supporting them with National Board Certification, asking them to lead planning meetings with colleagues, or attending professional development sessions outside of the school.         

Make sure you have a pulse on everyone regardless of your coaching availability. Don’t assume. Schedule class visits in your calendar and have some touchpoints with all teachers even if it’s less frequent for some. If you have a new team or are a new leader, get baseline data for everyone so you can see what support is truly needed. Each year is new; make sure your coaching approach is reflective of the current needs of your staff and students. 

Donyel Griffin is an Assistant Principal of Instruction at Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter and a former instructional coach and ELA teacher at the secondary level. Donyel is passionate about teacher coaching and curriculum development as key levers to providing students with equitable and engaging learning experiences that produce lifelong learners. 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/donyelgriffin 

Donyel’s Blog: https://donyelgriffin.wixsite.com/professionalpractice/blog