Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction

by Jim Knight

Overview

An innovative professional development strategy that facilitates change, improves instruction, and transforms school culture!

Instructional coaching is a research-based, job-embedded approach to instructional intervention that provides the assistance and encouragement necessary to implement school improvement programs. Experienced trainer and researcher Jim Knight describes the "nuts and bolts" of instructional coaching and explains the essential skills that instructional coaches need, including getting teachers on board, providing model lessons, and engaging in reflective conversations. Each user-friendly chapter includes:

• First-person stories from successful coaches
• Sidebars highlighting important information
• A "Going Deeper" section of suggested resources
• Ready-to-use forms, worksheets, checklists, logs, and reports

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412927246
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/21/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Jim Knight, Founder and Senior Partner of Instructional Coaching Group (ICG), is also a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than two decades studying professional learning and instructional coaching. Jim earned his Ph D in Education from the University of Kansas and has won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards.

The pioneering work Jim and his colleagues have conducted has led to many innovations that are now central to professional development in schools. Jim wrote the first major article about instructional coaching for the Journal of Staff Development, and his book Instructional Coaching (2007) offered the first extended description of instructional coaching. Jim’s book Focus on Teaching (2014) was the first extended description of how video should be used for professional learning. Recently, writing with Ann Hoffman, Michelle Harris, and Sharon Thomas, Jim introduced the idea of instructional playbooks with their book on that topic.

Jim has written several books in addition to those described above, including Unmistakable Impact (2011), High-Impact Instruction (2013), Better Conversations (2015), The Impact Cycle (2018), and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching (2021). Knight has also authored articles on instructional coaching and professional learning in publications such as Educational Leadership, The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, and Kappan. Jim is also a columnist for Educational Leadership and.

Through ICG, Knight conducts coaching workshops, hosts the Facebook Live Program, “Coaching Conversations,” and provides consulting for coaching programs around the world.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1. Why Coaching?
2. What Does Coaching Look Like?
3. What Is the Partnership Philosophy?
4. Partnership Communication: Creating Learning Conversations
5. Getting Teachers on Board and Finding a Starting Point
6. Modeling, Observing, and Collaboratively Exploring Data
7. Focusing on the Big Four: Behavior, Content Knowledge, Direct Instruction, and Formative Assessment
8. How Coaches Can Spread Knowledge
9. Coaches as Leaders of Change
Resource: Instructional Coach's Tool Kit
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Teachers helping teachers is a great way to create a powerful instructional staff. Knight offers practical and useful tools to help teachers achieve excellence."

Dale E. Moxley

"Provides valuable insight for mentors who are in the field working daily with novice teachers."

J. Helen Perkins