Our Purpose

ICIC mentors will provide support and guidance to new coaches while establishing a relationship that the new coaches can depend on. Mentors will be an instructional coach for those who have just begun coaching. Mentors will be expected to initially meet the mentee face to face (in person or Google hangout), contact the mentee three times per year, provide and review the coaching kit, and provide advice when necessary.  The opportunity to be a mentee is available to coaches who have been in the role for two years or less.

Resources on This Page

  • Instructional Coaching Tools
  • Recommended Readings: Instructional Coaching
  • Recommended Readings: Instruction

Instructional Coaching Tools

Getting Your Cycles Started!​

Art of Coaching- Elena Aguilar
Differentiated Coaching- Jane Kise
Instructional Coaching Group- Jim Knight​
Student-Centered Coaching- Diane Sweeney
Coaching for Teaching and Learning During a Pandemic
TeachBoost Blogs

​General Resources
Checklist Links
This is a list of checklists that coaches could use when observing teachers to assist in the feedback process.
Assessment Literacy
Questioning

Recommended Readings: Instructional Coaching


"The Art of Coaching" by Elena Aguilar
This comprehensive book describes not just what coaches do, but also what they think and value.  The Art of Coaching encourages the reader to examine his or her beliefs, develop a coaching manifesto, and create an effective work plan.  It has chapters on building trusting relationships, planning for coaching sessions, listening and questioning strategies, facilitating different types of conversations, and more.  Aguilar also provides many practical tools such as rubrics and question stems.

Topics included in this book:
  • Building trusting relationships
  • Developing a coaching work plan
  • Listening and questioning
  • Facilitating coaching conversations and activities
  • Technical tips and common challenges

Why would a coach want to read this?
This book provides a lot of resources on how to have powerful coaching conversations.  It covers how to listen, how to use different questions to provoke different responses, how to manage and guide conversations, as well as how to respond to whatever surfaces.

"Onward" by Elena Aguilar
Onward tackles the problem of educator stress, and provides a practical framework for taking the burnout out of teaching. Stress is part of the job, but when 70 percent of teachers quit within their first five years because the stress is making them physically and mentally ill, things have gone too far. Unsurprisingly, these effects are highest in difficult-to-fill positions such as math, science, and foreign languages, and in urban areas and secondary classrooms―places where we need our teachers to be especially motivated and engaged. This book offers a path to resiliency to help teachers weather the storms and bounce back―and work toward banishing the rain for good.

Topics included in this book:
  • Cultivate resilience with a four-part framework based on 12 key habits
  • Uncover your true self, understand emotions, and use your energy where it counts
  • Adopt a mindful, story-telling approach to communication and community building
  • Keep learning, playing, and creating to create an environment of collective celebration

Why would a coach want to read this?
By cultivating resilience in schools, we help ensure that we are working in, teaching in, and leading organizations where every child thrives, and where the potential of every child is recognized and nurtured. Onward provides a step-by-step plan for reigniting that spark.  

"Coaching Conversations: Transforming Your School One Conversation at a Time" by Linda Gross Cheliotes and Marceta Fleming Reilly
As the subtitle of the book might suggest this book has a school improvement focus.  That being said this book is great for either a new or seasoned coach.  The book focuses on the primary mode of interactions that coaches have, conversations.  New coaches will find guidelines and suggestions for making sure that conversations are focused on the goal at hand.  At 109 pages there is a lot packed into this tiny book.  Coaches will get most out of Chapter 3: Committed Listening, Chapter 4: Powerful Speaking and Chapter 5: Reflective Feedback.  Be certain to take the Listening Skills Self Assessment included the book.  This is a great tool to not only improve your coaching but also your teaching.  

​Topics included in the book: 
  • Models for coaching conversations
  • Components of committed listening and an aligned assessment
  • Powerful speaking through intentions and questioning
  • Three types of feedback, with emphasis on reflective feedback

Why would a coach want to read this?
This resource focuses in on the nuances and importance of strong communication, both listening and speaking.  The authors provide straightforward information and easy to use self-assessments.


"Coaching Matters" by  Joellen Killion, Cindy Harrison, Chris Bryan, Heather Clifton
This book, published by Learning Forward, was written as a resource to support and strengthen the practice and results of coaching with guidance for coaches themselves as well as for those who support and supervise coaches.  Coaching Matters addresses the conditions, structures and supports that should be in place to help “coaching matter” - to increase teacher effectiveness and student learning.     

Topics included in the book:
  • An introduction to different coaching models;
  • The ways in which administrators can support coaches;
  • Areas of professional development that support the needs of coaches;
  • Suggestions for how to evaluate coaches and a coaching program.

Why would a coach want to read this?
This book would inform a school or district looking to develop a coaching program or one that is early in their coaching journey.  Though the target audience is certainly coaches themselves, this would be a valuable resource for administrators who support coaches as well.  Valuable features of the book include many specific examples and scenarios of coaching in action as well as a huge set of organized resources and templates available for download from learningforward.org.   

"Focus On Teaching: Using Videos for High-Impact Instruction" by Jim Knight
Video has the power to completely change the way we “do” professional learning. In this book, author Jim Knight explores the vast potential of video recording to reach new levels of excellence in schools.  Explore how video can improve our teaching methods by helping us understand what our current teaching methods are. Knight outlines a clear process for using video to promote professional growth and teacher effectiveness. He discusses how to integrate the use of video to maximize the effectiveness of coaching, PLCs, and authentic assessment by administrators, and gain strategies for harnessing video to create immediate and long-lasting change in our classrooms.  

Topics included in the book:
  • Strategies that teachers, instructional coaches, teams, and administrators can use to get the most out of using video;
  • Tips for ensuring that video recordings are used in accordance with ethical standards and teacher/student comfort levels;
  • Protocols, data gathering forms, and many other tools to get the most out of watching video.

Why would a coach want to read this?
This book offers strategies and rationale a coach can use with an individual or team to help them realize how video can impact the performance in their role. There are also plenty of resources to guide the coach on what to do and say on how to best utilize video coaching in a coaching session.

"The Impact Cycle" by Jim Knight 
In The Impact Cycle, Jim Knight creates a compelling case for how instructional coaches can make a difference in the world of professional learning.  He outlines what a coach’s day to day looks like, where to get started, and how to keep the momentum going.  Coaching isn’t just about the logistics, it is also about effectively supporting teacher learning and growth.  Helping adults is complex work that can be facilitated through the use of partnership communication and philosophies.

Topics included in this book:
  • How to enroll teachers in a coaching partnership
  • Facilitating learning conversations
  • Three part process for coaching partnerships
  • Areas of focus for teacher goal setting “The Big Four”
  • Using data

Why would a coach want to read this?
This book provides the basics about what coaching is, why it is important, and how to get started.  Learning maps at the start of each chapter provide a quick overview of the content and ideas.  An “Instructional Coach’s Tool Kit” is included as well.

"Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction" by Jim Knight
Although this book was written with a school improvement focus, it contains many valuable tools for both new and experienced Instructional Coaches. It delves into Jim Knight’s Partnership Principles, which have been a guiding compass for my instructional coaching. Not only are the principles of equality, choice, voice, reflection, dialogue, praxis and reciprocity detailed, but it also includes tools to help coaches take data in a variety of classroom settings and design follow-up questions. The dedicated chapter on “Instructional Coaching” and “Workshops that Make and Impact” are must reads for any Instructional Coach or Professional Development facilitator.

Topics included in this book:
  • A definition of Impact Schools and the purpose they serve
  • Defining partnership: equality, choice, voice, reflection, dialogue, praxis, and reciprocity
  • The roles of coaches and principals in Impact Schools
  • Adult Learning: workshops, learning teams, and communication

Why would a coach want to read this?
This book provides a systems-view of the importance of improving instruction and the vital role that instructional coaches play.  Coaches who are a part of school or district improvement teams, participating in strategic planning, or developing program goals would find this resource useful.
​

Recommended Readings: Instruction

"Co-Teaching That Works" by Anne Beninghof
Following the success of the first edition, Co-Teaching That Works: Structures and Strategies for Maximizing Student Learning, Second Edition is here to provide actionable advice to co-teachers seeking to utilize one another's strengths. Unlike other co-teaching books, this manual is written for every possible educator combination—not simply general educators. You'll find sections on everything from co-teaching in literacy and speech-language therapy to special education and technology so that, no matter what subject matter or expertise, you'll be prepared to co-teach.

Topics included in this book:
  • Co-Teaching Roll Out Plans
  • Leadership Guidelines
  • Relationship Development
  • Best Co-Teaching Models
  • Specially Designed Instruction

Why would a coach want to read this?
Coaches who are partnering with co-teachers or plan to co-teach over a long period of time will find this book useful.  The creative and time-efficient tips and techniques will help identify specific strategies and models to utilize.

​"Better Learning Through Teaching and Leading" by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey
In this updated 2nd edition of the ASCD best-seller, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey dig deeper into the hows and whys of the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework. To gradually release responsibility is to equip students with what they need to be engaged and self-directed learners. On a day-to-day level, it means delivering lessons purposefully planned to incorporate four essential and interrelated instructional phases.

Topics included in this book:
  • Focused Instruction: Preparing students for learning by establishing lesson purpose, modeling strategies and skills, thinking aloud, and noticing how students respond.
  • Guided Instruction: Strategically using prompts, cues, and questions to lead students to new understanding.
  • Collaborative Learning: Allowing students to consolidate their understanding through exploration, problem-solving, discussion, and thinking with their peers.
  • Independent Learning: Requiring students to use the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired to create authentic products and ask new questions.

Why would a coach want to read this?
The authors explore each phase, using real-life examples from a variety of disciplines. You’ll find tips and tools for classroom implementation, including checklists for planning and assessment; advice on feedback, homework, group work, differentiated instruction, and blended learning; answers to frequently asked questions; and examples that align to Common Core State Standards. "

"Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain" by Zaretta Hammond
This book is a practical guide for every educator who teaches culturally and linguistically diverse students. In her book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. This book includes information on how culture programs the way our brain processes data and how culture affects our learning relationships. It also gives tips on how to build students' learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners. In addition, it includes prompts for action and self reflection. A must read for all educators!

Topics included in this book: 
  • Culture- building awareness and knowledge
  • Learning partnerships
  • Building intellective capacity
​
Why would a coach want to read this book?
The author provides a compelling combination of brain research and practical strategies to implement in the classroom that ensure all students have access to learning.  This content will be especially useful in partnerships focused on equity and reaching all students.


"Visible Learning for Teachers" by John Hattie
This is the proverbial dictionary for teachers and coaches. It outlines the teacher practices that have little, medium and high effect sizes. The appendices in the back are a great place to start with this book.  Specifically Appendix D indicates the kinds of best practices that yield real results. Chapter 6 and 7 are a “how to” in terms of using the effect sizes and applying them to the flow of the lesson in terms of learning & feedback for students. According to Hattie, various forms of feedback are associated with very high effect sizes, so my recommendation is for chapter 7! This book closes with the types of mind frames that teachers and school leaders should adopt in order to maximize student success. Even if you get this book for the appendices, it will be well worth it.

Topics included in this book:
  • The role of teachers
  • Lesson planning: preparing, starting, flow, feedback, and the end
  • Eight mindframes that have a major impact on student learning​

Why would a coach want to read this book?
This book takes Hattie's seminal work from "Visible Learning" and makes it practical for application within the classroom.  Use this title to find specific strategies and ways of thinking when partnering with teachers to improve instructional practice.

"We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom" by Bettina Love
This transformative book is a look into the suffering of children of color within the educational system. Drawing on her life's work of teaching and researching in urban schools, Bettina Love persuasively argues that to achieve educational justice, educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, resistance, joy and how to make sustainable change in their communities through radical civic initiatives and movements. This is a transformative book that challenges us to be accountable for our complicity in a flawed educational system.

Topics included in this book:
  • The history of the U.S. educational system and impact on children of color
  • How the "educational survival complex" has offered tactics to combat the system
  • A vision to replace the survival complex with alternatives to traditional approaches to school reform

Why would a coach want to read this book?
Coaches employed within systems that are seeking to improve educational equity or working with teachers who want to better understand the impact, or lack thereof, of traditional educational approaches on students of color will find this book inspirational.

"Classroom Instruction That Works" by Robert Marzano
Classroom Instruction That Works focuses on a few simple questions that guide teachers to refine their approach to teaching. What works in education? How do we know? How can educational research find its way into the classroom? How can we apply it to help individual students? These strategies are organized and presented within a framework that is geared toward instructional planning, which highlights the point that all of the strategies are effective and should be used to complement one another. Each strategy is supported with recommended classroom practices, examples of the strategy in use, tips for teaching, and information about using the strategy with today's learners.

Topics included in this book:
  • Setting objectives and providing feedback
  • Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
  • Cooperative learning
  • Cues, questions, and advance organizers
  • Nonlinguistic representations
  • Summarizing and note taking
  • Assigning homework and providing practice
  • Identifying similarities and differences
  • Generating and testing hypotheses

Why would a coach want to read this?
Whether you are coming to this book for the first time or are a veritable expert in the nine strategies, this book will help you develop your instructional approach, broaden your influence as a coach resulting in enhancing the instructional practices of the teachers you support. With this book you won't have to reinvent the wheel, simply take classroom instruction that works and make learning thrive.

"The Skillful Teacher" by Jon Saphier 
The Skillful Teacher is the comprehensive resource for all educators – no matter where they are in their career. Building on decades of research, The Skillful Teacher offers evidence-based instructional strategies for today’s classroom including easy-to-understand scripts and videos.  The Skillful Teacher is used world-wide as a hands-on, practical guide on instruction – not a theoretical perspective on education.
Topics included in this book:
  • In-depth study of the power of quality feedback and its relationship to student achievement
  • Identification of the planning decisions that can impact the quality and effectiveness of a lesson
  • How teachers' beliefs influence student motivation and effective efforts. 
  • A candid exploration of anti-racism and cultural competency issues that are especially timely in our current political and social climate

Why would a coach want to read this?
Coaches, at the end of the day, are teachers. In order to grow as a coach we must stay grounded in educational best practices and immerse ourselves in the learning environment. Coaching requires that we continue growing as educators, honing the Art of Teaching. This book provides the blueprint to supporting teachers in authentic ways.