Hawthorn 73 – Instructional Coaching: A Partner in Your PLC

This post was written by Allison Stein, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning at Hawthorn Community Consolidated School District 73. In this post, Allison outlines the district’s instructional coaching program, which they call A Partner in Your PLC.

During the 2022-2023 school year, we were presented with an exciting opportunity to design and implement a comprehensive instructional coaching program. In doing so, we prioritized setting a clear purpose focused on promoting the growth and learning of all students. Diane Sweeney’s Student-Centered Coaching Cycle, with its laserlike focus on student-learning, became the foundation of our work. We paired key components of Sweeney’s framework with an emphasis on developing our teacher teams into professional learning communities (PLCs). In our resulting model, instructional coaches are charged with promoting high levels of learning for all students through the facilitation of student-centered coaching cycles that follow the PLC process. 

At the start of our instructional coaching cycle, a coach partners with a grade level or department PLC to identify one or more standards-based student learning objectives. Importantly, these learning goals are selected from our district’s Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum and are not related to teacher performance. Our coach then supports the teacher team in analyzing students’ pre-assessment data to inform instructional planning. They engage in co-planning and co-teaching with team members throughout the unit of study, administering a variety of formative assessments to monitor student mastery of the agreed upon learning objectives. At the end of a cycle, both the instructional coach and teaching team participate in a structured reflection to support professional learning and continued program improvements.  

Each of our instructional coaches uses an Instructional Coaching Cycle Tool (ICCT) to facilitate cycles with teams. Our ICCT is designed to follow the PLC process; components are color-coded with guiding questions to support teams in responding to the four PLC questions. This highly structured tool supports consistency in our coaching processes and practices. It also helps us track student learning data to inform instruction, identify effective instructional strategies, explore areas of strength or needed development across the district, evaluate the impact of our coaching program, and ensure transparency around student learning. All team members, the coach, and the school administrator have access to the ICCT throughout a given cycle, as student growth is a shared responsibility. 

Approximately once each month, our instructional coaches and department coordinators engage in an extensive data dive. Working as an instructional coaching PLC, we compile and analyze data to make any needed adjustments to our program and practices. Data points include qualitative and quantitative information from each of our ICCTs, as well as time studies from every member of our coaching team. That is, we track our professional activities to ensure time is dedicated to efforts that reflect our purpose: the growth and learning of all students. In addition, our instructional coaches participate in a robust, district-led Instructional Coaching Summer Institute at the start and end of each school year. These professional learning experiences provide our coaches with an excellent avenue for collaborative reflection, development, and planning. 

Now in our third year, we are excited about the success of our instructional coaching program. Team members have presented at local coaching networks and conferences, showcasing our cycles and other coaching initiatives. We love learning and sharing with colleagues and would enjoy connecting with you! Please visit us at www.hawthorn73.org. 

ECN Hot Topic – Working Effectively as Partners with Your Teammates and Administrative Colleagues

From 3:45 to 5:15 PM online via Zoom on April 10, 2025, instructional coaches and other interested educators will come together to discuss successes and challenges in navigating partnerships, a current hot topic among instructional coaches. The first portion of this session will include a presentation with details and updates regarding how to strengthen the relationships, and the second portion of the session will allow participants to share strategies and solutions and talk about changes that can be made in the context of their own schools and school districts.

ECN Hot Topic – Recruitment: Inviting Teachers to Engage with Coaches

From 3:45 to 5:15 PM online via Zoom on February 27, 2025, instructional coaches and other interested educators will come together to discuss how to engage teachers in the coaching process, a current hot topic among instructional coaches. The first portion of this session will include a presentation with details and updates regarding effective strategies for recruiting teachers to engage and work with you as a coach, and the second portion of the session will allow participants to share strategies and solutions and talk about how to recruit teachers more effectively in the context of their own schools and school districts.

ECN Coaching Book Study – Data Rules

Data Rules is a recently released book by Jim Knight and Michael Faggella-Luby that supports instructional leaders with explicit strategies for using data effectively and to improve student learning and foster ongoing school improvement. In this book study, ECN Coordinators Alison Gordon and Sharon Sheehan will lead participants through a series of discussions around the book as work through its reading together.

Sessions will be held online via Zoom from 3.45 to 4.45 PM on February 19, March 5, and April 16, 2025. While registration for the full book study is only $60, discounts for groups are also available!

ECN Coaching Book Study – Data Rules

Data Rules is a recently released book by Jim Knight and Michael Faggella-Luby that supports instructional leaders with explicit strategies for using data effectively and to improve student learning and foster ongoing school improvement. In this book study, ECN Coordinators Alison Gordon and Sharon Sheehan will lead participants through a series of discussions around the book as work through its reading together.

Sessions will be held online via Zoom from 3.45 to 4.45 PM on February 19, March 5, and April 16, 2025. While registration for the full book study is only $60, discounts for groups are also available!

ECN Coaching Book Study – Data Rules

Data Rules is a recently released book by Jim Knight and Michael Faggella-Luby that supports instructional leaders with explicit strategies for using data effectively and to improve student learning and foster ongoing school improvement. In this book study, ECN Coordinators Alison Gordon and Sharon Sheehan will lead participants through a series of discussions around the book as work through its reading together.

Sessions will be held online via Zoom from 3.45 to 4.45 PM on February 19, March 5, and April 16, 2025. While registration for the full book study is only $60, discounts for groups are also available!

Coaching and Wellness: Creating a Mentally Healthy Classroom Workshop

Teachers are often the first to notice students who are struggling with mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and trauma. They also play an essential role in teaching young people how to cope and manage these challenges through role modeling, developing healing centered learning environments, and building relationships with students. This workshop will unpack these challenges and provide hands-on strategies that teachers can use immediately, and coaches can share as they work with colleagues on improving classrooms and learning. Based on the work in their new book, The Schools We Need Now: A Guide to Developing a Mentally Healthy School, Tim Dohrer and Tom Golebiewski will help teachers connect their classrooms and practice to a larger, schoolwide “Mental Health Action Plan.”

ECN Conference 2025 – Student-Centered Coaching with Diane Sweeney

We are thrilled to welcome back Diane Sweeney to ECN for our annual conference. Diane believes that Student-Centered Coaching can transform teaching and learning in K-12 schools. Student-Centered Coaching introduces a new way of delivering instructional coaching that puts the needs of students’ front-and-center. By focusing coaching on goals for student learning, rather than on fixing teachers, an instructional coach can directly impact instructional practice and student achievement. This day of learning will be of value to prospective coaches, new coaches, and experienced coaches, as well as any school leader interested in creating a culture of coaching in their school or district.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – Coaching Conversations

The purpose of the Coaching Conversations is to give participants the opportunity to discuss and process the content with ECN facilitators. Bring your thoughts, questions, and ideas to Zoom, along with your lunch, for engaging conversation. These sessions, from noon to 1 PM, are free and included for all ECN participants!

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – Teaching Practice

One of the main goals teachers set when they partner with coaches is to increase student engagement. In this session, participants will learn a number of different ways to define engagement, methods for assessing engagement, and five teaching strategies from High-Impact Instruction that teachers can implement to increase engagement. Additionally, participants will learn how to use video as a power tool for learning in coaching

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – Data Matters

Gathering data is one of the most crucial components of the Impact Cycle. Data allows teachers and coaches to establish a clear picture of current reality and measure the effectiveness of the strategies being implemented. However, gathering useful data can be tricky. This session will help coaches and teachers learn new strategies to get the most out of their data.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – Coaching Conversations

The purpose of the Coaching Conversations is to give participants the opportunity to discuss and process the content with ECN facilitators. Bring your thoughts, questions, and ideas to Zoom, along with your lunch, for engaging conversation. These sessions, from noon to 1 PM, are free and included for all ECN participants!

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – The Impact Cycle

Based on The Impact Cycle (2017) by Jim Knight, this workshop describes the coaching cycle proposed for instructional coaches. All teachers, schools, and classrooms face their own unique challenges. An established process for guiding the coaching experience ensures that instructional coaches have all the tools they need to help teachers set and achieve their goals. The Impact Cycle, the product of 20 years of Jim’s research, provides a framework for any coaching scenario. Participants in this workshop will learn why the cycle is successful, and gain experience using it through examples and guided exercises.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – The Impact Cycle

Based on The Impact Cycle (2017) by Jim Knight, this workshop describes the coaching cycle proposed for instructional coaches. All teachers, schools, and classrooms face their own unique challenges. An established process for guiding the coaching experience ensures that instructional coaches have all the tools they need to help teachers set and achieve their goals. The Impact Cycle, the product of 20 years of Jim’s research, provides a framework for any coaching scenario. Participants in this workshop will learn why the cycle is successful, and gain experience using it through examples and guided exercises.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching Institute – Better Conversations

Effective coaches, leaders, and educators communicate their message clearly, build healthy emotional connections with others, and maneuver through emotionally complex situations in ways that allow them to speak the truth so they will be heard. During this day, Jim Knight will share the 6 beliefs and 10 habits that promote healthy and productive relationships.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching – Coaching Conversations

The purpose of the Coaching Conversations is to give participants the opportunity to discuss and process the content with ECN facilitators. Bring your thoughts, questions, and ideas to Zoom, along with your lunch, for engaging conversation. These sessions, from noon to 1 PM, are free and included for all ECN participants!

ECN adds free Coaching Conversations

This year, the Educational Coaching Network (ECN) is adding another feature (for free!) to this year’s Foundations of Instructional Coaching and Advanced Coaching Workshops — Coaching Conversations.

The purpose of the Coaching Conversations is to give participants the opportunity to discuss and process the content with ECN facilitators. ECN participants are invited to bring their thoughts, questions, and ideas to Zoom, along with your lunch, for engaging conversation. These sessions, from noon to 1 PM, are free and included for all ECN participants! There are specific Coaching Conversations scheduled for both the Foundations of Instructional Coaching Institute and for the Advanced Coaching and Leadership Workshops. This is a new, additional value-add for participants and school districts as part of the Educational Coaching Network.

Supporting Educator Engagement with Coaching

One of the Illinois P-20 Network’s four Areas of Focus is Educator Engagement. As will be evident with the forthcoming publication of the KEEP Illinois research review regarding educator retention and career-long engagement, there are many key elements to retaining educators throughout their careers in ways that can continue to grow and thrive. While climate and culture, salary, collaboration, professional autonomy, and relationships with peers and supervisors are all critical, one strategy that can consistently improve all of these other elements (with the exception of salary) is coaching.

The Educational Coaching Network (ECN) is designed to serve as a partner to organizations on their journeys with developing, implementing, and maintaining coaching as well as a partner to individual coaches – from new coaches with the annual Foundations of Coaching series as well as to experienced coaches with the Advanced Coaching workshops that provide different learning opportunities each year based on the needs that have been identified by coaches across Illinois. Additionally, coaches and school and district leaders are invited to celebrate coaching and to dive deeper into its direct impact on students at this year’s ECN Conference on April 24, 2025, with Diane Sweeney.

KEEP Illinois is dedicated to helping educators locally and policymakers state-wide develop and implement practices and policies that will promote long-term engagement and growth (and retention) for educators throughout our careers. ECN provides important supports for these efforts.

To learn more about the Educational Coaching Network and/or for information about customized assistance with launching, evaluating, and/or improving coaching in your organization, please contact Tim Dohrer.

Kaneland School District 302 Awarded 2024 Coaching Champions

Launched at the 2023 ECN Conference and awarded to Glenbrook Township High School District 225 at that time, the Educational Coaching Network awarded its second annual ECN Coaching Champions award at this year’s ECN Conference on May 9, 2024, to Kaneland School District 302.

Over the past decade, Kaneland School District 302 has shown a broad and consistent commitment to instructional coaching. This commitment has been demonstrated through Kaneland’s staffing of instructional coaches to the priority and value it places on instructional coaching with teachers to the ongoing professional development that is provided to the district’s instructional coaches.

The Illinois P-20 Network Educational Coaching Network continues to see the extraordinary work being done across Illinois by teachers with students and by the coaches and school and district leaders who support those teachers. We are pleased to honor Kaneland School District 302 for their long-term success with instructional coaching and their desire to support teacher engagement and student achievement.

ECN Conference 2024 – Stretching Our Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work with Jennifer Abrams

We are thrilled to have Jennifer Abrams return to the ECN Conference to work with us on the five facets of being our best selves at work – knowing our identity, suspending certainty, taking responsibility, working interdependently, and building resiliency. Join us to consider what it means to develop our skills and capacities as lead learners and coaches in our schools.

Registration is $375 and includes parking, breakfast, lunch, materials, and 6 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). Participants will receive a copy of Jennifer’s new book Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work.

Groups of 3 or more receive a $50 discount per person. Register by April 1, 2024, to receive an additional $25 discount per person.

Announcing the Educational Coaching Network 2024-2025 Calendar

Update – May 9, 2025 – The Educational Coaching Network website has been updated for 2024-2025, and registration links are now live!

The Educational Coaching Network (ECN) is excited to announce its 2024-2025 professional learning calendar. All of these events will be held at the NIU Naperville Conference and Event Center, and workshops will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to help minimize the impact most schools and school districts are facing with the limited availability of substitute teachers.

Foundations of Instructional Coaching Institute

Jim Knight and the Instructional Coaching Group team return for the “Foundations of Instructional Coaching Institute” with five days of engagement for prospective or new instructional coaches as well as for instructional coaches who may not have previously engaged in an in-depth professional development experience around coaching. Jim Knight will be back to kick-off the Institute on November 13. The remaining sessions will be led by his colleague, Michelle Harris, an experienced teacher, instructional coach, administrator, and, today, a veteran presenter and the Director of Consulting for the Instructional Coaching Group.

• November 13 – Better Conversations
• February 4 – Impact Cycle Day 1
• February 5 – Impact Cycle Day 2
• March 11 – Data Matters
• March 12 – Teaching Practices

Advanced Coaching and Leadership Workshops

Each of these workshops, which can be attended as individual workshops or by registering for the entire series, takes a deep dive into specific aspects of coaching and leadership. These workshops will improve and refine the skills of coaches and educational leaders.

• February 24 – Advanced Coaching Skills – Jim Knight
• February 25 – System Design – Jim Knight
• March 18 – Coaching for Leaders Day 1 – Mary Webb
• March 19 – Coaching for Leaders Day 2 – Mary Webb

ECN Conference – April 24, 2025

Diane Sweeney will return to the Educational Coaching Network for the 2025 ECN Conference at NIU Naperville. Diane will be supporting district leaders, school leaders, and coaches with the implementation of Student-Centered Coaching, and this is a great opportunity for district and/or school teams to prepare for new or improved implementations for the 2025-2026 school year.

Registration for all of these events will open in May 2024 and be available on the Illinois P-20 Network’s Educational Coaching Network website.

Expanding our P-20 Network Team

The Illinois P-20 Network is excited to announce that Tim Dohrer, currently the Director of Teacher Leadership at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, will be joining Northern Illinois University beginning on September 1, 2023. Tim will be serving as our new Director of Educator Leadership and Partnerships, and his role is an appointment across the Northern Illinois University College of Education and the Illinois P-20 Network in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. 

Prior to his role at Northwestern, Tim served as a teacher, instructional leader, and as the principal at New Trier High School. Tim brings a wealth of on-the-ground experience with him as well as continued work alongside educators in schools in his current role.  

At NIU, Tim will continue to lead the Educational Coaching Network (ECN) as well as provide leadership for KEEP Illinois, engage across Illinois P-20 Network efforts, and partner with school districts, community colleges, and other organizations on the creation and implementation of degree and licensure programs through the NIU College of Education.  Please join us in welcoming Tim to NIU and the Illinois P-20 Network! 

Registration now open for 2023-2024 Educational Coaching Network Institutes and Workshops

In our previous Newsletter, we announced that the Educational Coaching Network (ECN) is joining the Illinois P-20 Network. The Illinois P-20 Network’s Educational Coaching Network is excited to announce that registration is now open for the 2023-2024 institutes and workshops with Jim Knight. These are opportunities to learn directly from the leaders in educational coaching. Through educational coaching, schools and districts and postsecondary institutions can improve all aspects of learning and accelerate and deepen our collective improvement and effectiveness as educators. 

Most sessions will be held at NIU Naperville with two events being held in Rosemont. Additionally, there are discounts for groups of three or more. 

For the 2023-2024 year, ECN is excited to offer the following Institutes. Click on each of the links to learn more about each Institute, including dates and pricing.

• Foundations of Instructional Coaching Institute with Jim Knight – Register
• Advanced Coaching and Leadership workshops with Jim Knight – Register
• Student-Centered Coaching Institutes with Diane Sweeney – Register

Learn more about the Illinois P-20 Network Educational Coaching Network at: p20network.niu.edu/ecn

Welcoming the Educational Coaching Network to the Illinois P-20 Network

Over the past few years, the depth and breadth of the Illinois P-20 Network has grown significantly from 65 organizations just three years ago to well over 250 organizations now that serve over 1.6 million students. The P-20 Network focuses on using research and data to lead to increased opportunities for all students and more equitable outcomes through its efforts taking place to support Career and Technical Education, to improve early college credit through the Dual Credit Think Tank, and to ensure that outstanding educators are serving students through KEEP Illinois, among other work. Today, we expand those efforts further for the 2023-2024 year and beyond with the addition of the Educational Coaching Network to the Illinois P-20 Network. 

Over nearly a decade, the Educational Coaching Network (ECN), which has been based until now at Northwestern University, has served hundreds of educators from Illinois and the Midwest through a variety of professional learning structures. The Educational Coaching Network has served as Jim Knight’s Midwest partner, and ECN will continue to do so as it moves to the Illinois P-20 Network and Northern Illinois University. Additionally, the Educational Coaching Network is able to bring other leaders in educational coaching to our region, such as Diane Sweeney, who will be providing a series of workshops in 2023-2024, and builds a community of learner among instructional coaches and the school and district leaders who support those efforts. 

The Educational Coaching Network will specifically further our efforts around equity and opportunity as well as educator engagement and retention, and the Educational Coaching Network serves as an outstanding addition to further the coaching-centric efforts of the Illinois P-20 Network’s partner organizations at Northern Illinois University, such as NIU STEAM, the Illinois MTSS Network, and the Illinois Migrant Education Program. 

With registration about to open in the coming weeks, today, you can already check out the full slate of ECN workshops coming up on our new Illinois P-20 Network Educational Coaching Network website: p20network.niu.edu/ecn