ERIC Number: EJ1337580
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Apr
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2476-194X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Where Coaches Learn to Coach
Bouffard, Suzanne
Learning Professional, v43 n2 p26-29 Apr 2022
To help coaches grow into their roles, Learning Forward's Coaches Academy provides personalized support to districts and states. Offered both in person and virtually, the Coaches Academy builds coaches' knowledge and capacity through facilitated sessions with an expert coach, collaborative learning communities, tools and strategies tailored to the district's or state's needs, and individual support for coaches and their supervisors. Like coaches themselves, the academy aims to bring out the best in everyone who participates, and it evolves over time through reflection, responsiveness, and a commitment to growth. Most recently, that growth has included pivoting to virtual offerings during the pandemic and helping coaches build their professional networks beyond local geographic boundaries. Among the thousands of educators who have participated in the Coaches Academy are about 500 coaches from North Dakota, who enrolled in the program through the state's Teacher Support System. The North Dakota Coaches Academy began in 2010 after the state issued a mandate for all schools to employ coaches to support K-2 reading instruction. Since that time, the state's coaching program has grown as districts have built their capacity and come to see the powerful impact coaching can have. This article focuses on the following topics as they relate to the Coaches Academy: (1) Defining the role of coaches; (2) Personalizing learning to coaches' needs; (3) Reflecting on growth; (4) Pivoting during the pandemic; and (5) Ongoing growth.
Descriptors: Coaching (Performance), Training, Skill Development, Capacity Building, Teacher Role, Individualized Instruction, Reflection
Learning Forward. 504 South Locust Street, Oxford, OH 45056. Tel: 800-727-7288; Fax: 513-523-0638; e-mail: office@learningforward.org; Web site: https://learningforward.org/the-learning-professional/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Dakota
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A