In a recent Educational Leadership discussion forum, the discussion thread focused on teacher evaluation. The initial article, “Overcome Obstacles to Teacher Evaluation: High-Reliability Practices,” addressed the issue by proposing ways to defeat everyday challenges in implementing teacher evaluation systems along with some recommendations to avoid implementation snags. We know this topic is ever-present and ever-challenging.

Here are the common obstacles that need to be tackled and resolved in some way in order for implementation to be successful: develop a consistent definition of educator effectiveness; create a district-wide approach to instruction; provide adequate training for evaluators; and set and monitor standards for system implementation. So, what does Tony Davis, Consulting Director, The Center for Educator Effectiveness (McREL), suggest?

1. Fidelity, intensity, and consistency are critical. Effectiveness cannot be measured until we know
    what it looks like; everyone has to be evaluated using the same definition and objectives;
2. A district-wide approach to instruction ensures consistency in language and practice; this is
    necessary both within and across schools. (According to OECD in 2008, there was a 2.6 times
    great variation in student achievement across classrooms in the same schools than from school
    to school);
3. All evaluators must be properly trained to use the evaluation system and provide the appropriate
    feedback to educators; they must offer ways to strengthen practice;
4. Successful implementation of an evaluation system is a process and requires ongoing support
    and consistency to make it valuable.

As instructional coaches, you are in the position to help provide consistency, ubiquity, and fidelity to an instructional coaching process that builds teacher capacity, increases student engagement and improves student learning, all pieces of an effective evaluation system.

What are some of the strategies you implement to ensure consistency in practice and language in your coaching work?

So, I continue to reflect about how coaches can begin the BDA cycle of consultation. I know it sounds simple but it is far from simplistic. It’s a great framework to help begin the process of ongoing support. With the BDA cycle, the process is not just about the implementation of a specific concept or chapter analysis; it’s more about talking with colleagues and discussing instructional practices that are effective and make sense. That cannot occur in a quick hallway conversation although the start of it can certainly occur there. You know the song, “It’s all about the bass”… this time “It’s all about the conversation!”

There are several ways to start the process. For starters, I might do the following to build awareness about the BDA cycle of consultation:

1. At a faculty/grade level/department meeting, reiterate your role as a non-evaluative classroom supporter and are on the side of helping teachers implement effective instructional practices. Share the BDA cycle of consultation, collaboration, and collective problem solving, all in a confidential setting; build awareness of why each part of the process is so important for achieving goals; (Coaches for athletes, performers, artists, even for weight control must “see” what happens and offer feedback about the practice.) If you don’t “see” what is practiced, you can’t offer valuable feedback;
2.  Go around to your friends and ask what they think needs to happen for school wide improvement; this is a needs assessment kind of activity; once you get some ideas, go around again and see who will work with you to implement some of the ideas; as soon as you see something about classroom implementation, ask if you can co-plan with the teacher (before) and generate the “look fors,” model or co-teach (during) in the class using one of those ideas as the content, and then meet to debrief (after);
3. Offer to model a “piece” of the lesson; in this case, the coach and teacher still co-construct the “look fors” (before) and the teacher watches how the coach teaches (during); and the conversation that follows is the debriefing (after).

Implementing the BDA cycle of consultation is much like planning an event. All the elements of the event are critical to the overall success of that event. The planning is essential so the “content” is carefully crafted and the event runs smoothly; participating in the event gives a clear picture of what worked well and what needs attention in real time; and the final stage is to reflect on the event to see if the initial goal and purpose of the event were accomplished, especially when the event is recurrent.

Just remember, coaching is situational. Not every teaching colleague is ready to pursue all three stages of this process. A coach’s role, however, is to make the process visible, inviting, and collaborative so that all participants are beneficiaries.

What are some of the successes as an instructional coach you have experienced around the BDA cycle of consultation?

As a coach, it is important to recognize that coaching is situational and differentiated. While the BDA cycle of consultation is critical for transparency, transformation, and talking about instructional practice, not every teacher needs all three “prongs” of the BDA cycle of consultation each time they meet with the coach. The three “pronged” approach, however, should be followed at least a few times per quarter with each teacher.

The BDA cycle is a conversation between a coach and teacher to collaborate and communicate about their work together. It is an agreement for working together as partners. A new teacher may need more support than an experienced teacher or an experienced teacher may want more support because s/he is teaching new content. Either way, the coach and teacher must collaborate and decide the kind of support needed: intensive support means working multiple times with the same person; strategic support means working with teachers on a variety of specific instructional practices; and independent support means that the coach and teacher may work together less often because the needs can be met with less frequent time together.

The starting point for the process is the “B” or before conversation. Here the coach and teacher co-plan and discuss the goals for the class and how those goals will be achieved. The coach is a good listener here, asking probing or clarifying questions without giving an unsolicited opinion. The object is to ask the questions that encourage the teacher to think about why these goals are important and if the instructional delivery and resources identified will help the teacher meet the needs of the students. The teacher and coach co-construct the plan to collect evidence that reflect the agreed upon goals and they schedule a date to discuss that classroom visit giving themselves time to process the actual classroom visitation.

The during or “D” part of the cycle is where the action takes place. The coach may visit and collect the agreed upon data, may model a segment of the lesson, or may co-teach with the teacher. Regardless of the activity, the coach and teacher need this visit so they can reflect in, on, and about classroom practice. This is where the coach and teacher can “see” if what they wanted to do was accomplished.

The after or “A” part of the cycle is critical for transformation. This is the time where the coach and teacher are reflective and give timely, specific, descriptive, and non-judgmental feedback to determine what worked well and what practice needs additional support.

No matter how often coaches and teachers work together, following the BDA cycle of consultation is critical for ongoing communication and collective problem solving to take place.

Which phase of the BDA cycle is the most comfortable for your colleagues? Why do you think this is so?

The following question surfaced during one-on-one conversations with several coaches, some of whom coach and teach during the day and some of whom are full time coaches. Either way, they wanted to know how to engage teachers in a full BDA (before, during, and after) cycle of consultation so that they benefit from the ongoing collaboration. Here are some of my thoughts:

As a coach, you must build awareness and help others understand your role and the BDA process. They need to see the connections among the 3-pronged approach to school wide improvement which starts at the level that makes the most impact: the classroom. Usually, teachers want to co-plan with their coach (B) and set the tone for the class lesson. It’s the “D” and the “A” that may be challenging.

Coaches need to understand why teachers may be reluctant to invite them into their classrooms. Most teachers think that visitors in classrooms are there to observe. That’s where instructional coaching visits differ from administrative observations. Instructional coaches visit classrooms and work with teachers on a set of predetermined “look fors.”

In the planning or before session, “B,” the coach and teacher co-construct what the goals are and on which elements the teacher would like the coach to focus. They also schedule a time for debriefing which should occur after they both have a chance to reflect on the visit. The during, “D,” is where the coach and teacher see the elements discussed in the “B.” It is the “content” for the debriefing session. In the after session, “A,” the coach and teacher reflect on the goals and debrief about what was effective and what needs to be supported differently.

If the coach cannot see how the “B” goals are met, the “A” is not helpful. The reflections that must occur in the “A” cannot happen if no “D” takes place.

In my experience, teachers who are uncomfortable in the “D” do not understand that a coach’s role is non-evaluative and it is the very place to “rehearse” and “practice” a variety of instructional techniques with an opportunity for reflection and feedback in a no-risk environment. In my next two blogs, I’ll talk more about the BDA cycle and suggest some steps to encourage participation in the full BDA cycle of consultation by building awareness and comfort in the process.

How do you invite your colleagues to participate in the full BDA cycle?

I just spent three wonderful days sharing and learning with instructional coaches, mentors, and other school leaders from across Pennsylvania. We worked together and engaged in professional conversations around building teacher capacity, increasing student engagement, and improving student outcomes. A variety of strategies, instructional practices, and a multitude of ideas about teaching and learning were shared and discussed through the lens of instructional coaching. Colleagues collaborated with each other and reflected on, in, and about practice. Each session was facilitated by practitioners: the coaches and mentors. The collective wisdom of the group was awesome!

One of the things that surfaced during this statewide multi-day professional development was that not one coach, mentor, or other school leader called him/herself an expert. Each person defined his/her presence as being a member in a community of learning and practice, sharing expertise, experiences, and examples of working with their teaching colleagues. Every person felt comfortable and confident; each person understood that being in a safe environment, one that was non-evaluative and risk-free, was the way to practice with his/her coaching colleagues. There was no worry about making mistakes. This is the same climate that must exist when coaches work with their teaching colleagues.

One question that arose while working together was how to define an instructional coach. You know, the 30 second elevator speech that explains what coaches do. My answer… instructional coaches are “agents of change”; their role is to change instructional practice in a collaborative environment. If you need a paragraph explaining what coaches do, try this:

“Instructional coaches engage in confidential, non-evaluative conversations with staff members helping them implement effective instructional practices. They work with teachers one-on-one and in small groups to reinforce that what is learned through theory, demonstration, and practice is successfully applied in classrooms. Their work is intentional and deliberate, providing real time support and specific feedback designed to improve practice. They offer differentiated, ongoing job-embedded professional development in a safe environment, focusing on school wide improvement, building teacher capacity, and increasing student engagement.”

How do you describe your role to your colleagues?

Every day, week, and month brings new challenges to the coaching role. Just when we think we “got” it, something else happens to make us doubt just what we are doing and how we are doing it. We read a ton of professional articles, journals, blogs, and tweets; we engage in all kinds of conversations with our colleagues; we design ongoing professional development for our schools; we prepare meeting agendas and materials for our teachers; and we model effective instructional practices so that our teachers will “see” what we are talking about when it comes to building new skills and changing practice. As much as possible, we anticipate the questions and concerns our teaching colleagues might have. What we don’t anticipate is the amount of time it takes for our colleagues to learn something new and feel comfortable implementing those new learnings in ways that make a difference in their instructional practice.

On average, it takes twenty (yes, 20) separate instances of practice for a teacher to master a new skill (Joyce & Showers, 2002). We think by building a teacher’s knowledge base through a “drop-in” or one-time only professional development session, we are giving teachers what they need. That’s the issue… coaches don’t “give” teachers what they need; coaches and teachers work together to build the skills needed and provide continuous support so that they talk about practice through implementation and then talk about the implementation of the practice. It’s not just learning about a new skill; it’s learning a new skill and how that new skill will transform practice. It’s learning the skill, talking about when and how to use the skill, and then reflecting on whether the skill and the implementation were effective in achieving the defined goals. This not only takes time but also support from coaches so that working “side-by-side/shoulder-to-shoulder” helps teachers recognize what new skills are useful, how to deliver those new skills in effective ways, and then change their beliefs so that new practices are not discarded when the practice is not as successful as hoped. (As a teacher, I had a desk drawer full of “bells and whistles” that I had no idea how to use!)

What are some of the ways you share new skills and help teachers change their beliefs in a no-risk environment?

This is the time for thinking about what we do well, what we wished we did well, and what we need to do to move forward in our practice.  It’s where my teaching days of mythology come back and remind me that Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, has again raised his two faces. Not in a deceptive way as in “two-faced” but rather in the manner that is reminiscent where I think about change and the power of transformation, about what I have already accomplished and what I want to achieve in the future. I reflect on my goals both personally and professionally and recognize that with growth comes disruption, unease, and struggle. But, that’s all good… remember, “Without a struggle, there can be no progress” (Frederick Douglass).

So, friends and colleagues, during the holiday season, please take some time to reflect, rebuild and re-energize. You are not alone in your desire to make a difference in the lives of teachers and the students they teach.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. Be safe!