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the highland park landmark | March 7, 2019 | 3
North Shore School D112 Board of education
District creates plan for instructional coaches for teachers
Eric Bradach
Freelance Reporter
Learning never ends,
even for teachers. While
teachers are responsible
for developing students’
knowledge and learning
outcomes, teachers need
coaches to ensure they implement
the best practices
to create academic success.
That’s the reasoning
behind a plan to recruit
instructional coaches for
teachers in North Shore
School District 112.
Five representatives
from the district’s Teaching
and Learning Department
presented and outlined
their plan to launch
the Instructional Coaching
Plan at the Board
of Education’s Feb. 26
meeting.
Professional development
for teachers has four
key components: theory
and discussion, demonstrations
in training,
practice and feedback,
and coaching in the classroom,
said Kevin Ryan,
assistant superintendent
for Teaching and Learning
Department. None is more
important than coaching
in the classroom because
it accounts for 95 percent
of teachers’ classroom
practices, according to the
department’s findings.
“An extremely powerful
coaching model improves
instruction and ultimately
improves student
achievement,” Ryan said.
Teachers who are
coached are more likely
to practice new strategies,
adapt to an individual student’s
needs, retain their
skill over time, and able
to explain why they are
teaching a lesson to their
students, Ryan said. This
makes teachers confident
Round it up:
• Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld’s plan to
sell Green Bay School was put on hold. Lubelfeld
said he will present a more coherent and revised
strategic plan next month with what to do with the
property and the money gained by the sale.
in their abilities, which
will earn trust from their
students and helps them
understand the subject, he
noted.
“It’s not about the resource.
At the end of the
day, in five or six years
when we come back,
their could be a different
resource that we come to
you with, but it’s those
practices that mean the
most and will have the
greatest impact on student
achievement,” Ryan said.
These instructional
coaches will be experienced
teachers and receive
training from the
department on curriculum
and instruction as well
as training and ongoing
support by a coaching
consultant. The positions
will be posted in February
and March, interviews
will take place in March
and April, recommendations
will be provided to
the board of education in
April and May, and the
coaches will be trained in
July and August, according
to the department’s
proposal.
Some requirements
and qualities the department
will be looking for
in coaches are a certification
in teaching, naturally
collaborative, classroom
instructional expertise,
strong teacher pedagogy,
Ryan said.
“Think of a coach in
sports. It’s someone who
is able to give constant
feedback,” Ryan said.
“But also not only able
to give feedback but be
able to listen to teachers’
needs and understand
where teachers are
coming from.”
The plan is to go into
effect for the following
school year, and the instructional
coaches will
have a language arts
and mathematics focus
with three instructional
coaches for K-fifth grade
and two for sixth-eighth
grades, according to the
proposal.
“Some may ask, “Is
five enough?” Ultimately,
yes,” Ryan said. It’s crucial
to have a manageable
number so the department
can effectively support
and ensure success of the
instructors. The process
will be evaluated on a
year-by-year basis with
more instructional coaches
in the future, Ryan said.
The department’s plan
received overwhelming
praise by the Board but
some questioned and were
hesitant about the cost and
whether this will remove
district staff.
The cost for coaches’
salaries will be offset
by the elimination of independent
consultants,
which is what budget
funds for professional development
have been used
for, and previously cut positions.
No existing positions
will be cut as well,
according to the department
representatives.
“This seems to make a
lot of common sense to
me. I’m very happy the
district is moving forward
with this,” board member
Dan Jenks said. “I fully
support the idea of rolling
it out. It doesn’t make
any sense to have bodies
if you can’t properly train
them.”
Board member Bennett
Lasko said he finds the
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plan easy to support and
agreed with starting the
program with only five instructional
coaches. Ryan
ensured the Board that all
variables were evaluated
by the department.
“We took some costs
into effect, but we also
took into consideration
of what is the most manageable
number we can
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do and ensure [the five
instructional coaches] are
successful,” Ryan said.
“That was the happy
middle place where all of
those things converged
together and we said, ‘We
don’t feel like this is too
much a stress on the district,
and we’re going
to see a great academic
return on investment.”
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