Advancing instructional coaching with teacher formative assessment

With increased attention to teacher quality and accountability, instructional coaching has emerged as a popular form of teacher support and professional development in literacy and other areas of instruction. Despite significant interest from school personnel, researchers, and federal funders, there remains a lack of consensus around the key components and activities of instructional coaching. To that end, studies that use quantitative and qualitative methods can offer valuable information on the development and validation of coaching practices. This chapter briefly describes the Classroom Strategies Assessment System Coaching Model that draws on the adult learning and formative assessment literature. We offer key observations of educators' knowledge of and experience in instructional coaching from focus groups conducted with teachers in high-poverty, urban elementary schools. Directions for practice and research are discussed.