Putnam County’s Instructional Coaches Program has shown promise in helping teachers focus on student achievement.
5-12 Instructional Supervisor Dr. Bubba Winningham said instructional coaches support teachers and help develop curriculum. Winningham said coaches work behind the scenes to make sure students learn on their grade level.
“[Instructional coaches] are vital because they work with the teachers so much,” Winningham said. “They have good relationships with our teachers. They are former teachers. So it’s very important for us to invest in that to make sure that what we’re seeing, you know, with our kids is paying off.”
Winningham said there are instructional coaches for each grade range. Instructional coaches specialize in core subjects like math, science, history, and language arts.
Winningham said success coaches lead weekly professional learning community sessions, where teachers come to develop instructional strategies and lesson plans.
“We also want them, during these PLCs, during all of this work, to make sure we share successful practices across the board,” Winningham said. “And celebrate kids, and those students, and those teachers, so [instructional coaches] also have a big role in celebrating what they do as a district.”
Winningham said occasionally, coaches and teachers will work one-on-one to develop teaching strategies.
Winningham said instructional coaches use information collected from benchmarks and unit tests to better address areas where students are struggling.
“We have a lot of data that we collect on students individually, as a content area, as a grade level, so our coaches are very versed in going in and identifying trends,” Winningham said. “A lot of times they can target those trends, and best support those trends for improvement.”
Winningham said instructional coaches are not meant to replace teachers, but to keep their focus on the classrooms and the students.
