Instructional Coaching to Improve Student Achievement

Instructional Coaching to Improve Student Achievement Presented by: Janet Hughes, Kathy Krause, Keith Schroeder, and Eric Sorensen

The Team • Janet Hughes, District Literacy Specialist • janehugh@hssd.k12.wi.us • Kathy Krause, Special Education Teacher • kathkrau@hssd.k12.wi.us • Keith Schroeder, LMC • keitshr@hssd.k12.wi.us • Eric Sorensen, Language Arts Teacher • ericsore@hssd.k12.wi.us

Our Model • 3 Periods Daily • 45 minutes Planning Together • Monday Weekly Overview • Daily - Specifics of materials and strategies to be utilized • Responsibilities of each member • 90 minutes Reader’s Workshop Model • Kathy and Eric Instructors • Janet teams, models, subs, running records, make-ups • Keith supports team with technology and reading materials • Professional Learning Community Team every Tuesday (7:10- 7:50) • Develop and Work Towards Goals • Common Assessments • Share • Brainstorm

Classroom Snapshot • Daily Schedule (90 Minutes with students) • Structured Independent Reading Time (20 minutes) • Logs • Student Choice (tradebooks, graphic novels, magazines, etc.) • Booktalks-monthly • Logs • Individual Goals/Contract • Written Book Talk • Speaking Book Talk • Rubric • Voki • Teacher Read Aloud (10-15 minutes)

Classroom Snapshot cont. • Shared Reading Lesson • Books from LA 101 Curriculum • Speak, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird • Short Stories, Magazine and Newspaper Articles, Poetry, etc. • Relevant, Engaging, and Interesting • Comprehension Strategy Model/Practice/Apply • Predicting, Questioning, Summarizing, Connecting, Visualizing, • Teacher model-Think Alouds • Student/Teacher practice • Students apply during independent reading

Classroom Snapshot cont. • Written response to literature • Daily to show their thinking • Larger writing activities • Writing Process • 6 + 1 Traits • Minimum of 1 each quarter • Usually with focus on piece of literature or final assessment of piece of literature

Students in Course • Incoming 9th grade students (20-25/class) • Multiple data points • Collected through 7 and 8th grade • WKCE, GRADE (Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation), MAP • Regular or Special Education Students • Currently reading below grade level • Will earn 1 LA credit and 1 elective credit • Letter sent to parents • Team Goals: • Each student enrolled in LA 101 Block will increase reading level by 1.5 years by either running record, 1.5 on GRADE total score or 4 points on MAP RIT Score. • Fifty percent of students enrolled in the LA 101 Block class will improve their comfort level and enjoyment of reading as shown by pre, mid, and post survey results.

Student’s Perceptions • What do you like about this class ? • I like all the activities we get to do in class. (Candy ) • It’s very fun, but always on something new. (Sadie) • Well you get to read a lot. (Tonya ) • That we do reading with the class. (Kelsie) • I like when the teacher reads to us. (Luke) • The teacher reading to us instead of Popcorn Reading. (Andy)

Student’s Perceptions • What is something you like about what has been read in class? • I get to choose what I read.-Twilght, cause I like the action. (Tori) • They are interesting stories and I can understand what we read. (Dalton) • Speak, because it relates to school problems. (Cody) • The actual pictures that are painted in my head when I read now. (Jesse) • The books we read are good because they are funny and they are not that hard to read. (Everett)

Student’s Perceptions • What is a strategy you have learned to help you become a better reader? • To re-read if I don’t understand something. (Stephanie) • I’ve learned to visualize when I read. (Brooke) • Read a paragraph, then tell myself what it is about in my head. (Sadie) • To make connections. It helps me remember what I read. (Julia ) • Ask questions. It helps you get more involved. (Luke ) • Summarize what I read. (Morgan) • Make predictions of what is going to happen next. (Brian) • Taking notes about what you read. Take notes on the page you read. (Samantha)

Student’s Perceptions • How has this class helped you with reading? • The strategies that we have learned. (Tori) • I’ve never read a lot, but now I read almost every day. (Kelsie) • I have actually learned to like reading books. (Cole) • It’s made me want to read more. (Samantha) • Made me understand what I am reading better. (Bri) • We work on our individual problems and not on a group problem. (Candy) • I’m understanding what I read now. (Jesse) • We do independent reading every day so it helps me. ( Everett) • It helped me pick out what books are good for me. (Anna) • We talk about the books and we write about them. (Tonya )

Student Improvement(Mid-Way Point) • 38 percent of students indicated increased positive attitude/self confidence/self perception in the area of reading • 71 percent of participants made an average reading level increase of 1.01 grade equivalency from fall to winter • Kathy’s group: 67% made gains with average of .91 • Eric’s group: 75% made gains with average of 1.11

Five Coaching Strategies • First-Create a Partnership • Build trust and understanding with each other • All ideas, opinions, and concerns are important and needed • Expectations should be clarified for each other • The best interests of students are in mind • We are in this TOGETHER!

Five Coaching Strategies • Second-Shape the Environment • Publicly recognize and reward each other • Show personal involvement in each others growth • Establish processes or activities that promote learning from each other

Five Coaching Strategies • Third-Inspire Commitment • Build insight and motivation and focus energy on goals. • Make sure team members have specific, relevant information about performance • Help people clarify their goals and values

Five Coaching Strategies • Fourth-Promote Persistence • Review class goals and ask about progress • Set realistic expectations for progress • Provide ongoing feedback that recognizes and rewards progress and efforts

Five Coaching Strategies • Fifth-Grow Skills • Model how a strategy can be used effectively • Share training and resources • Cris Tovani Workshop • Kylene Beers Workshop • Book Study, Subjects Matter, Every Teacher’s Guide to Content Area Reading by Harvey Daniels and Steven Zemelman • Create opportunities that stretch each other to learn something new

What We Have Learned…. Leadership is not so much the exercise of power itself as the empowerment of others. . . Successful leaders lead by pulling rather than pushing; by inspiring rather than ordering; by creating achievable – expectations though challenging –and rewarding progress toward them. by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus

“Simply put, students need enormous quantities of successful reading to become independent, proficient readers. By successful reading, I mean reading experiences in which students perform with a high level of accuracy, fluency and comprehension.” - Doctor Richard Allington

Instructional Coaching to Improve Student Achievement