What better way to reach teachers than through 1:1 coaching throughout the school year?

By Day 7 of Week 7
Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues, explaining how you would address the issue they proposed using specific evidence-based strategies for leading the change process. Be sure to support your response with reference to the Learning Resources, research, and prior professional experiences.

(1) Terri Hughes
Hughes_Initial Post

At my previous place of employment, teacher retention was such an issue that annually we stayed surprised they could even open the schools. Two years ago they paid a company hundreds of thousands of dollars to find out why our students continued to fail and fail at a record rate annually. Unfortunately, I could not find any published documentation to support what we were told once the data had been read by that company. They told us that our scores were low and would continue to be low due to teacher retention and due to the transient nature of our students’ lives. That district was the highest paying district within an hour all around but it also had the highest rates of violence even at the K-2 levels.
For this discussion board post I am going to be speaking as the instructional coach for this district, this is a position that does not actually exist in that district. Specific to the state of Califonia from 2005-2015 before and during the great recession there was a 70% decline in teacher candidates, teachers were laid off, and budget cuts were extreme (Darling-Hammond, et.al., 2018). For the 2017-2018 school years more than 80% of districts reported they would be short qualified teachers, 90% of districts said this was worst than the year before, and the current strategies used to bandaid these shortages undermine teachers’ and the quality of instruction and student achievement (Darling-Hammond, et.al., 2018). This paints an accurate picture of just how severe the teacher shortage is in that area. Lambert cites, that teachers are overworked, staffing is too low, social-emotional behaviors too great, and just the overall stress of things is why teachers are leaving in record numbers (2022). It’s possible with the decrease in test scores and increases in office referrals at Grand City this may already be an issue for them or could be soon (Walden University, LLC. (2016b).
“Ultimately, instructional coaching decreases teacher turnover, reduces costs associated with teacher recruitment and hiring, and improves student achievement outcomes (Larkin &Sandak, 2019). Fullan mentions that people change their attitudes when they experience new things, more specifically when you reach them through their feelings (Fullan, 2016). What better way to reach teachers than through 1:1 coaching throughout the school year? Some way in which to offer teachers supports through instructional coaching is by offering personalized support. This means providing teachers with non-evaluative guidance, professional learning opportunities, and frankly support of just being there (Larkin & Sandak, 2019). Secondly, they can offer quality collaboration, answers to questions that come up daily and be a thought partner (Larkin & Sandak, 2019). Finally, the coach will take the lead in doing the in-depth research that is sometimes needed, they will seek out the training a teacher may benefit from, and assist by modeling or observing a teacher with the intent to help a teacher meet her goals for the year. As a mentor teacher, I was at a bare minimum another adult with my mentees to speak with and understand what they were going through. My focus as a mentor teacher was to get them credentialed as quickly as possible. How great it would have been to offer them the array of supports that an instructional coach offers. I believe Grand City could also benefit from instructional coaches but specific to math and ELA as to not overwhelm anyone with too much to get through.
I am curious if any of you have instructional coaches or something similar where you work? If you do what have been your experiences? Again, this is not a role at any school I’ve taught at but feels like the answer to a lot of problems. Perhaps I just do not know.

References
Darling-Hammond, L., Sutcher, S., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2018). Teacher shortages in California: Status … – getting down to facts. Getting Down to Facts. Retrieved from https://gettingdowntofacts.com/sites/default/files/2018-09/GDTFII_Report_Darling-Hammond.pdf
Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Lambert, D. (2022). Covid-19 challenges, student behavior push California teachers to quit midyear. The Stockton Record. Retrieved from https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2022/06/02/coronavirus-challenges-student-behavior-push-california-teachers-resign/7485394001/
Larkin, H., & Sandak, S. (2019). A guide to implementing instructional coaching – betterlesson. Better Lesson. Retrieved from https://info.betterlesson.com/hubfs/Collateral/Whitepapers/Whitepaper_A_Guide_To_Implementing_Instructional_Coaching.pdf
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2016b). Grand City education and demographic data files [PDF]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

(2) Terri Winbush
RE: Discussion 1 – Module 4

In viewing the videos of Grand City’s task force meetings. and listening to the ongoing issues that their city is facing, one issue that caught my attention was the growing population of refugees and I would like to comment on the early childhood education department This is an issue that is happening in our school district within our early childhood division. We are facing a major problem with families migrating to the city of Los Angeles needing immediate child care services. This issue has been addressed by administrators, principals, and families that are in need.
In our school district, as well as Grand City we are facing a large number of immigrants and other families, the population is growing more and more after the Covid-19 pandemic. The parents have expressed their concerns about their children not being able to attend early learning preschool programs. About 60% of families do not speak English, parents are concerned about their children having more access to learning and being able to speak a second language. I totally agree the community needs more resources in order for a change to occur. From 2005- 2019, the percentage of preschool enrollees attending public school increased by 6.6 percentage points to 59.7% (Mcelrath (2021). There was a major shift in the type of preschool programs parents chose public schools to enroll their children because it became much more prominent. The percentage of enrollment went up according to the U.S. Census Bureau analysis of data. When COVID-19 hit in 2020 enrollment decreased and in 2021 increased. Parents are feeling more comfortable taking their child(ren) back to school. Schools are now mandated to use Universal Precaution from the Department of Health, In 2018, Governor Newson proposed several initiatives for the state of California and one of them was more funding for child care and making it affordable for all families. During that time he proposed a program called ” Universal Preschool”, which was passed and was funded for 2.7 billion and it has been extended for the 2021-2022 year. This program serves 100,000 children. Senate Bill 130 defines what it covers and how schools will receive the funding for their programs. We are hopeful that our President Biden will continue to put our children and low-income families first and keep this expansion program going. This program is known as closing the achievement gap because 90% of brain growth happens before kindergarten. If the Governor and community leaders get involved and the school district, parents, and community leaders write letters, have petitions signed, and advocate for the children and families of Grand City I know something should change. Our cities are overcrowded.
The mayor and legislation along with large companies must collaborate and communicate and state what the vision is for the community. Schools do not have the capacity or the will to improve themselves; improvement must therefore come from sources outside of school, such as universities, state,, and national commissions, and departments of education (Barth (1990). With Grand City, the task force should also petition a bill that will create more early learning programs and funding for all early learning to have the right to get free services. The petitions should be sent to the assembly leaders, congress, state legislators, and the Department of Education in order to have more programs for the community. Resources are great, but funding is better.
References
Barth, R.S., (1999). Improving Schools from Within. Teachers, parents, and principals can make a difference. Jossey-Bass Inc., publishers, San Francisco, CA 94104.
Mcelrath, K., (2021) Heighten Focus on Early Childhood Education Program as Preschool Enrollment Increased Before COVID-19. Censusgov/library/stories/2021/11/pre-pandemic-early childhood-enrollment-expanded-as-more-enrolled-public-preschool.html.
Walden University LLC. (Producer).(2016b). Grand City education and demographic data files {PDF}. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Discussion 1: Scenarios for Change
Consider the need for educational change facing the Grand City community and how members of the task force have begun working toward meeting that need. You have reviewed the data reflecting demographics for the community and reflected on how the data should inform decisions regarding changes to your specialization. While changes may be welcomed by some members in the community, as a leader of change, you must also take into account why some members resist change. Perhaps the issues facing Grand City are similar or reflective of the needs of your own community. How might you support your community in a change process? How might you encourage change-resistant community members to work toward necessary change?
For this Discussion, you will use data to develop a specialization-specific scenario representing a need for change in your educational or community setting.
Note: You will develop the scenario in this Discussion for your colleagues to respond to and address the scenario from your perspective in Module 4 Discussion 2.
To prepare:
Review the assigned Fullan (2016) chapters for this module. Consider the processes and concepts regarding change and how educational leaders can support both.
In the City Hall location in Grand City, revisit the media of the task force’s opening meeting. Think about the issues addressed by the members represented and how communities strive to meet the educational requirements of their children/students and the needs of their members. Think about how the issues raised in the video and those by your colleagues thus far in the course resonate with your specialization in your own educational or community setting.
Select an issue that represents a need for change in your educational or community setting and involves, or has the potential to involve, your specialization area. Locate and review the existing data related to this issue. What is the data telling you about the issue and potential educational and/or community changes?
Note: If you are unable to determine an issue from your own educational setting or find data related to your issue, you can select an issue and review the data provided in Grand City.
Based on the data, develop a more detailed scenario of the issue for your Walden colleagues to respond to with evidence-based strategies for leading the change process.
Note: You may wish to base your scenario on a personal experience or on the information provided in Grand City.
By Day 3 of Week 7
Post a scenario description that explains:
The details of the issue, including the history of the problem, who is involved, and why the problem has occurred. Be sure to include specific reference to data to support your explanation.
How the issue presents a need for change within your specialization in your educational or community setting.
For this Discussion, and all scholarly writing in this course and throughout your program, you will be required to use APA style and provide reference citations.

Module 4: Applying Strategies for Change (Weeks 7 and 8)
Commitment to what should be changed often varies inversely with knowledge about how to work through a process of change. … promoters of change need to be committed and skilled in the change process as well as the change itself.
(Fullan, 2016, p. 83)
Educational changes can be challenging because of the many stakeholders who may be affected by the change. As you consider strategies for implementing and measuring the effectiveness of change, recognize that some individuals and groups may resist change and work to undermine it. As a leader in developing plans for educational change, consider how other leaders have been successful and what contributed to that success. Conversely, think about how some leaders have failed and the possible lack of knowledge in the change process that contributed to that failure.
In this module, you will create change scenarios related to your educational setting and based on available data. You will also continue to develop evaluation tools for a program in your specialization.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Develop educational change scenarios
Analyze data for change
Apply evidence-based strategies for leading change processes
Develop program evaluation tools
Develop program evaluation action plans
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Chapter 3, “Insights into the Change Process” (pp. 39–53)
Chapter 5, “Planning, Doing, and Coping with Change” (pp. 82–96)
Giancola, S. (2014). Evaluation matters: Getting the information you need from your evaluation. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/sst/evaluationmatters.pdf
Jayaratne, K. S. U. (2016). Tools for formative evaluation: Gathering the information necessary for program improvement. Journal of Extension, 54(1), 28. Retrieved from https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1930&context=joe
Henson, H. (2016). Data quality evaluation for program evaluators. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 21(1), 99-108. doi:10.3138/cjpe.261
Document: Action Plan Template 1 (Word document)
Document: Action Plan Template 2 (Word document)
Required Media
Grand City Community
Go to the Grand City Community and click into City Hall to review the following for this module:
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2017a). Grand City opening task force meeting [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2016b). Grand City education and demographic data files [PDF]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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