Collaboration & Coaching: Vision, Alignment, and Implementation of K-5 ELA Curriculum

Outline

We will start with the beginning of our journey, telling our story from different perspectives, Assistant Superintendent, K-12 District ELA Coordinator, Literacy Coaches, and Alignment Teachers, and how we collaborated to engage stakeholders on our grade-level alignment committees to imagine a future in which literacy instruction met the needs of all students. This introductory portion will tell the story of self and provide opportunities for our audience to reflect on their own literacy journey, seeing where they see themselves, and understand where they may be in navigating this work. We will use both our own stories as presenters as well as videos from our team members to share this story. (10min)

One structure that we will explore are our Alignment Committees, which promote and ensure grade-level alignment in curriculum across our different schools. We will share protocols from our meetings, videos from our teachers on this team, and speak to how we envisioned a possible future for our work in order to begin the implementation process. We will also discuss how we continued to leverage these teams to strengthen our work as well as challenges we faced working with teachers, both members of our own Team and those on the grade-levels. (10-12min)

Another structure that has supported this work are the efforts of our Literacy Coaches. Their insight into transforming a role that did not previously exist in our district to generate teacher buy-in through a supportive, coaching role will further strengthen our story while also ensuring participants see ways in which instructional coaching can be implemented, particularly in a district that has not had coaching before and with hesitant staff. We will share examples of coaching cycles, coaching menus, and testimonial videos of staff who have participated in coaching to show the impact on shifting their practice & mindset. We will also share examples of how we leveraged limited time to implement professional learning opportunities for our staff to further develop their capacity in shifting their understanding of our units of study to strengthen their practice. (10-12min)

The final structure that our presentation will highlight is how we collaborated with school leaders, district leadership, and our local community to educate them on the shifts, align understanding of practices across K-5, and see the impact of our work in alignment with District and State expectations. We will share examples of how we are collecting student data in meaningful ways to track and show impact, presentations that we conducted for our Board of Education, and our K-5 Family Literacy Night, to help participants reflect and think about next steps. (10-12min)

We will end with an opportunity for the audience to reflect on our journey, draw parallels to their own experiences, and plan for their next steps given our experiences and shared resources. We will also provide a time for questions and discussion. (10-15min)

Supporting research

Aguilar, E. (2013). The art of coaching: Effective strategies for school transformation. Jossey-Bass.
Aguilar, E., & Cohen, L. (2022). The PD book: 7 habits that transform professional development. Jossey-Bass.
Brown, E., & L'Allier, S. (2022). No more random acts of literacy coaching. Heinemann.
Knight, J. (2021). The definitive guide to instructional coaching: Seven factors for success. ASCD.
Perret, K., & McKee, K. (2021). Compassionate Coaching. ASCD.