Instructional coaches are typically experienced classroom teachers who have moved away from full-time teaching to work directly with other teachers and help them improve their practice.

Responsibilities of instructional coaches include:

• Coaching teachers, especially those new to our district, with a focus on:
  • Curriculum: what students learn
  • Instruction: how students learn
  • Assessment: how we know students learn. This often includes classroom observations, as well as pre-observation and post-observation conversations.

• Planning and conducting professional development for teachers
• Facilitating meetings
• Planning with administrators

Equity Instructional coaches are doing the above specifically through a lens of equity.

Overarching Goals of Coaches

• Support equitable student achievement through the implementation of district initiatives by building teacher capacity, especially with teachers who are new to the district.
• Work with teachers, using evidence-based practices, to move the district’s equity work from implicit to explicit and to nurture culturally responsive classrooms.
• Serve as a liaison among stakeholders, for example between administrators and teachers or among teachers.