Student Centered Coaching

In her book, Student-Centered Coaching, Dianne Sweeney believes that the emphasis in using data involves a collaborative effort among department chairs, teachers, and the school leadership. In many cases; a school-based coach is responsible for organizing and creating dialogue about assessment data. Some coaches feel intimidated about bringing data into conversations with teachers because they fear data will make teachers feel nervous or threatened. But when coaches take a student-centered approach, the use of data and student work becomes a natural (and expected) part of the process and teachers often claim that, as a result of the focus on students, coaching feels less personal. The following coaching practices are nonthreatening and are based on creating a culture that collaborates around data; Sorting for differentiation, data teams, and assessment walls.