- Year 2022
- NSF Noyce Award # 1758243
- First Name Michael
- Last Name Daley
- Institution University of Rochester
- Role/Position Faculty
- Workshop Category Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Noyce Master Teachers, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs
- Topics Developing Teacher Leaders, Preparing STEM Teachers as School & Community Change Agents
- Session Length 30 minutes minutes
- Additional Presenter(s)
Maria Frey (Maria_Frey@eastiron.monroe.edu), Jason McMurray (mcmurray.jason.a@gmail.com), & Cindy Callard (ccallard@warner.rochester.edu)
Goals
As a result of this session, participants will learn deliberate moves that can be used during content-focused coaching to support high quality instruction. As a result of this session, participants will have increased confidence to implement productive content-based coaching cycles with their colleagues.
Evidence
Content-focused coaching has a positive effect, larger than general coaching, on teachers’ instructional practice (Kraft, Blazar, & Hogan, 2018). Content-focused coaching supports the development of “ambitious teaching practices” for all students (Lampert & Graziani, 2009), that include:-establishing clear student learning goals for understanding (e.g., Heibert et al, 2007; Kazemi et al., 2009; NCTM, 2014);-implementing high cognitive demand tasks that encourage an inquiry approach (e.g., Gibbons & Cobb, 2016; NCTM, 2014; Smith & Stein, 2018);-facilitating meaningful discourse that builds on student reasoning (e.g., Chapin, O’Connor, & Anderson, 2009; Engle and Conat, 2002; NCTM, 2014; Smith & Stein, 2018; Staples, 2007);-supporting and encouraging productive struggle (e.g., Hiebert and Grouws, 2007; Kapur, 2010; NCTM, 2014).Content-focused coaching also fosters an authentic partnership in which the teacher and coach co-construct and reflect on lessons and share accountability for student learning as inquiry into practice (e.g., Bickel et al., 2017; West & Cameron, 2013; West & Staub, 2003).Given this evidence, supporting teacher leaders in their knowledge and skills in content-focused coaching will have impacts on teachers’ instructional practices and student learning.
Proposal
Content-focused coaching is a powerful form of professional learning to support the development of high-quality instructional practices. Reform initiatives often include content-focused coaching being led by teacher leaders from within their own districts, providing opportunities for teachers to collaborate with colleagues. In this workshop, participants will be engaged in abbreviated versions of activities used by the University of Rochester Noyce MTF program to support the development of Noyce teacher leaders’ content-focused coaching skills. The workshop will highlight distinct phases of the coaching cycle (planning discussion, lesson implementation, and debriefing discussion) through videos and transcripts. Through guided reflection, participants will look critically at moves used by coaches that lead to productive coaching sessions. Upon completion of the workshop, Noyce teacher leaders will have increased awareness of deliberate coaching moves and increased confidence to implement productive content-based coaching cycles with their colleagues. Noyce program leaders participating in the workshop will gain appreciation for the use of video and transcript models to support teacher leader development in content-focused coaching.
