The following OP-ED was written by Deborah Low, Chair of the Wilton Board of Education.

At our Sept. 8 meeting, the Board of Education heard a detailed update on our instructional coaching model, first implemented in 2015-16. The model provides instructional coaches to work with K-5 classroom teachers and Grades 6-12 Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Science teachers. Coaches are experienced, certified teachers with training and expertise in the coaching model. They partner with teachers and teacher teams to determine, model, and refine instructional strategies to meet the individual needs, in real-time, of students in the classrooms.

Over time, the art and science of teaching have become more complicated and demanding.  Long gone are the days of teachers in front of classrooms hoping that most students, behaving as passive learners, master the material. Luckily we know much more about how students learn and research continues to develop that knowledge. We also know the importance of using assessment data to pinpoint specific student needs. Long gone also are the days of teachers flying solo in their classrooms with little peer interaction for planning and collaboration.

In order to provide the best instruction for students, teachers now use an ever-expanding array of complex, technical strategies and tailor them to individual student needs identified by multiple sources of assessment data. Teachers now work much more on teams to develop consistency in curriculum and instruction and collaborate on shared academic improvement goals. Teachers now more than ever are expected to quickly update to current best practices and standards. For example, literacy instruction constantly evolves; STEM standards change in response to workplace needs and international competition.  COVID demanded pivoting to hybrid instruction and then recovery demanded quick implementation of the accelerated learning model.

Teachers now more than ever are expected to quickly update to current best practices and standards. The instructional coaching model provides essential support and partnership for teachers so they can be at the top of their game.

The instructional coaching model provides essential support and partnership for teachers so they can be at the top of their game. In order to maximize student learning, coaches organize and interpret assessment data and collaborate with teachers to map out an instructional game plan to meet the needs of individual or groups of students.   Instructional strategies are developed and refined by co-teaching lessons and/or observation and conversations with the teacher. In addition, coaches work with teacher Instructional Effectiveness Teams (IETs) to analyze data and set instructional priorities. Coaches and teachers share instructional successes and collaborate with the IET teams on challenges. The coaching model helps ensure that best practices and standards are accurately and consistently implemented in our classrooms in a timely manner.

GOOD News About Coaching’s Impact on Student Outcomes

Again, this is done in real-time with real students. The staff has refined the coaching model since 2015 to increasingly focus directly on student achievement. The model is both proactive about and responsive to students’ immediate needs.

The coaching model aligns with research on adult learning and professional development. Reading, workshops, demonstrations and solo practice of instructional strategies are helpful (65% of teachers understand and can demonstrate the practice) but result in only 5% of teachers regularly implementing the practice in the classroom. Research on coaching in classrooms has shown that 95% of teachers understand and can demonstrate the practice and — most importantly — 95% regularly implement the instructional practice in the classroom.

We employ a total of 10.5 instructional coaches — six assigned for Humanities and 4.5 assigned for STEM. Seven coaches are deployed at the K-5 level (Miller/Driscoll — 2.5 Humanities and 1.5 STEM; Cider Mill — 2.0 Humanities and 1.0 STEM). At the secondary level, there are 3.5 coaches (Middlebrook — 1.0 Humanities and 1.0 STEM; Wilton High School — 0.5 Humanities and 1.0 STEM). The model is expensive:  salary and benefit costs for the 10.5 coaches — on the same salary grid as teachers — is $1.45M.

The seven K-5 coaches support 76 classroom teachers. The 3.5 FTE coaches for Middlebrook and WHS support 104 teachers (English, Math, Social Studies, and Science). The majority of teachers, although not all, choose to work one-on-one with coaches every year, but all teachers interact with coaches as part of their IET work.

Does coaching have an impact? Our most recent standardized test report presented at our Sept. 22 meeting contains some very good news.

  • In Language Arts and Math, Grades 3-8 each showed significant improvement in the percentage of students reaching mastery as they moved from one grade to the next.
  • Comparing the same grade levels to last year’s scores also showed improvement, although it varied — some differences were small, others were quite dramatic. And at Cider Mill, we still need to improve percentage mastery scores relative to our DRG towns (Darien, Easton, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport).
  • More good news is Middlebrook scored in the top three in our DRG for all three grades in both Language Arts and Math.
  • Other impressive news is that the percentage of all students in Grades 3-8 meeting their individual, state-defined growth targets was the highest in our DRG in both subjects.    The amount of individual student growth, the year-to-year improvement compared to ourselves, and the rise in comparative DRG scores at Middlebrook is good news and the coaching model was a major, although not only, contributing factor.

During last year’s budget season, questions were raised about whether instructional coaching is an effective program and whether it is worth the expense. These are good questions that were discussed among the BOE and BOF last year.   It is also the reason we highlighted the program at our Sept. 8 meeting. As we move into another budget season, the Board will continue to discuss to what extent the program is effective, right-sized for its objectives, and affordable in our budget proposal.

We encourage everyone to watch the video of our Sept. 8 meeting. The presentation provides much more detail and brings the experience of coaches and teachers to life. We thank all the staff who compiled the presentation. We are grateful for the professionalism and skills demonstrated by the coaches and teachers in our classrooms every day.