Flipping the Script: Centering Instructional Coach-Researchers in District Improvement

• In Event: The Teacher-Principal Relationship: Supporting Teachers to Improve Schools

Abstract

Instructional coaches have emerged as an effective strategy for influencing change in schools. However, the knowledge of these expert educators has been seldom harnessed to inform reform in broader educational systems. Centering instructional coach-researchers in continuous improvement allows it to operate as a democratizing process and as professional development. Our project seizes this opening. We employ principles of design-based implementation research with a subset of nine experienced instructional coaches in a districtwide instructional coaching network. The design team identifies a need for increased connection in their network, designs a peer coaching program, and iterates to meet the needs expressed by their community. Our findings suggest opportunities to empower school-site educators to design and improve educational structures beyond their buildings.

Author

• Kemi A. Oyewole, Stanford University
  Presenting Author