Agents of Change: How Content Coaching Transforms Teaching and Learning

by Lucy West, Antonia Cameron

Overview

“If education is to be the learning profession, then we must walk the walk of learners.  The bottom line is not perfection, constant success, and high test scores.  The bottom line is creating a culture in which learning, innovation, and collaboration are the norms—a learning culture.  When adults in schools create such environments, children will thrive.”
—Lucy West and Antonia Cameron

 How can teacher leaders cultivate an adult learning environment that will upgrade teaching capacity system-wide, and ultimately improve student learning in every classroom?  Lucy West and Toni Cameron turn decades of experience designing and implementing coaching initiatives into a practical resource for transforming school culture and inspiring true learning at every level. 

 Agents of Change provides coaches, administrators, and teacher leaders with specific techniques, tools, and strategies for working with individual classroom teachers to plan and co-teach lessons, reflect on them afterwards, and find evidence of student learning. Lucy and Toni argue that when we infuse rich learning conversations into the professional discourse via coaching, study lessons, and regular meeting times for professionals to work collaboratively, we’re able to examine what it takes on a day to day basis to reach every student in our classrooms.  The transformative potential of content coaching to improve both teacher and student learning on a school-wide level has never been more clear.

Purchase includes free access to an online video case study.
Read a sample chapter!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780325013831
Publisher:	Heinemann
Publication date:	09/18/2013
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	241,345
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Antonia Cameron is a Master Coach for K-6 Mathematics at Metamorphosis. Former co-director of Mathematics in the City, a national center for professional development at The City College of New York, Toni is coauthor of numerous facilitator guides and Contexts for Learning unit books. She is a nationally known mathematics "coaching coach" and speaker on professional development practices.

Lucy West is the founder and Director of Metamorphosis Teaching Learning Communities. Formerly the Director of Mathematics Instruction in New York City’s Community School District 2, Lucy also served as Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Grades K-12, for nearly 200 schools in New York City’s Region 9. She is a nationally known speaker on professional development practices and a master mathematics coach.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 What Is Content Coaching? 1

Chapter 2 Designing and Refining Coaching Initiatives 19

Chapter 3 Roles in a Coaching Initiative 37

Chapter 4 Know Thyself 61

Chapter 5 Communication Is Key 71

Chapter 6 Assessing Teacher Development: The Starting Place for Coaching Teachers 87

Chapter 7 The Preconference 96

Chapter 8 Co-Teaching the Lesson 124

Chapter 9 The Postconference 149

Conclusion 175

Appendices

Appendix A Guide to Core Issues 179

Appendix B Sample Coach Schedules 181

Appendix C Activities 186

Appendix D Collaborative Goal Setting 207

References 211