As coaching begins to become more and more prevalent in our school system, it becomes time to evaluate whether it is working as well as hoped and to determine any improvements or changes that should occur. An article by Diane Sweeney (2010) examines how well teacher-focused coaching stacks up, and introduces a new method to fill in the gaps: Student-centered coaching. She argues that while teacher-focused coaching has many merits, it also has flaws that student-centered coaching will alleviate. You may be wondering how one differs from the other. Eleducation (2021), states that “student-centered coaching differs from teacher-centered coaching by keeping student work at the center of the entire coaching cycle”.  Sweeney (2010) believes that the coaching models have become too focused on teachers only, and are forgetting the most important people in the classroom, the students. 

Lets Work to Evaluate Student Needs

One cornerstone of being a successful teacher is being able to determine what students may already know compared to what their district and curriculum want them to know, and, once that difference is found, figuring out the best way to teach it. Student-focused coaching is designed to assist teachers in doing just this, as well as helping them teach in ways that best serve the students with the aid and support of coaches who work in close partnership with the teachers to evaluate and analyze student needs. Sweeney explains that instead of drowning teachers in new methods and policies, a student-centered coach will listen to the teacher, understanding his/her beliefs for what is important for students to do and learn, and assist them in clearly defining a set of goals for the students to achieve by the end of term. The coach also works with the teacher to determine how best to judge the students’ learning and grasp of said goals. 

Student-Centered Coaching Session vs. Teacher-Centered Coaching Session

Rather than modeling instruction as one would in a teacher-focused coaching session, a student-centered coach focuses more on “co-teaching” and collecting and analyzing student work. “At the beginning, [the coach and teacher] sort student work to collect baseline data. Throughout the [coaching] cycle we sort student work to make daily instructional decisions. As the cycle wraps up, we sort a post-assessment to determine who has met the goal, and make follow-up plans for any students who haven’t” (Diane Sweeney, Sorting Student Work- A Process Used Throughout the Coaching Cycle, 2018). The early collection and evaluation of student work help teachers quickly identify which areas students are struggling in, and identify specific students who may be struggling more than the rest. Once this is known, the teacher can easily model plans to assist those students and monitor how they are learning and responding based on their student work throughout the year. 

Principals and Coaches Must Work s a Team

Additionally, Sweeney (2010) stresses the importance of support for teachers so they can support the students. While coaches will be the main source of support, it is also vital that principals learn the steps to student-centered coaching, and ensure they hold teachers accountable for upholding student success. This is a tricky balance because the principal must be both sterns but also supportive, helping teachers navigate the new waters that come with coaching. The principal must understand and vocalize that the student's needs come first, thereby leading by example to help teachers and coaches work together to accomplish this same mission. After all, the purpose of a school is to help students learn, and everyone should work together to accomplish this noble goal. 

References

Eleducation, (2021), Coaching for change: Student-centered coaching. Webpage. Retrieved 8-1-2021 from https://eleducation.org/resources/coaching-for-change-student-centered-coaching

Sweeney, Diane, (2018, Oct 23). Sorting Student Work- A Process Used Throughout the Coaching Cycle. Webpage. Retrieved 8-1-2021 from: https://www.dianesweeney.com/sorting-student-work-a-process-used-throughout-the-coaching-cycle/ 

Sweeney, Diane. Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K–8 Coaches and Principals, SAGE Publications, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/iub-ebooks/detail.action?docID=996402. Created from iub-ebooks on 2021-06-15 03:22:04.