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The Orange County Department of Education explains Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS

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As a teacher, I loved the annual PTO teacher appreciation breakfast: tablecloths featuring pencils, hearts, and shiny red apples, bouquets of pink mini carnations, and a coffee and tea cart fit for a barista. And the buffet! Like mead halls of yore, long banquet tables were lined with fruit salad, homemade quiches, scrambled eggs, miso soup, and gallo pinto. Bagels, croissants, chapattis, and churros sat atop a bread table. Little folded cards identified casseroles that were gluten-free or vegan. Options for everyone! I wanted to sample every single one.

A school down the street didn't have it so good. Their breakfast served a single option-a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a biscuit. No substitutions.

Now, I personally love a good ol' brekkie sammy, but it certainly won't meet everyone's needs. Some staff members may be vegetarian, lactose-intolerant, or gluten-free. Some may be watching their waistlines. And some will just think that the sandwich is G.R.O.S.S. We all can predict the outcome. Many will leave hungry, frustrated, and needless to say- un appreciated.

The bacon/egg/cheese saga represents the one-size-fits-all scenarios we often see in our classrooms: Every student is expected to read the same book at the same pace, listen to the same lectures, and complete the same math problems using the same materials. These inflexible solutions expect compliance and favor students who don't face significant barriers to traditional learning. Many of the "tried and true" techniques and curriculum in classrooms perpetuate privilege rather than focusing on learning, autonomy, and empowerment.

When we design the same learning pathways for all learners, we might tell ourselves we are being fair, but in fact, single pathways are exclusionary. Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of the critically acclaimed book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, challenges us to focus on impact over intentions. It may not be our intent to exclude our learners, but the reality is that many students do not have opportunities to learn at high levels or to access curriculum and instruction that is accessible, engaging, culturally sustaining, and linguistically appropriate.

Luckily, there is a framework that rejects these one-size-fits-all solutions and empowers educators to proactively design learning experiences so all students can increase their brainpower and accelerate and own their learning. The framework is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

UDL is a framework for designing learning experiences so students have options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning. When implemented with a lens of equity, the framework has the potential to eliminate opportunity gaps that exclude many learners, especially those who have been historically marginalized. If we want all students to have equal opportunities to learn, we have to be incredibly purposeful, proactive, and flexible. UDL creates a learning environment that is the least restrictive and most culturally responsive, trauma-informed environment for all students.

CORE BELIEFS OF UDL

This work begins with asset-based beliefs about students and the power of design to eliminate barriers. A UDL Practitioner believes:

Variability is the rule, not the exception. Students may need to learn in different ways, using different materials, and share what they have learned in different ways to reach the same goals.

All students can work toward the same firm goals and grade-level standards when provided with adequate challenge and support.

All students will become expert learners if barriers are removed and they are given opportunities to self-differentiate.

Belief 1: Variability

Variability is the unique mix of skills, interests, needs, and preferences each and every learner brings to the classroom. Variability goes beyond differences between students and explores differences within students, based on context. Because of variability, what students need is ever-changing and evolving. So providing options for students to reflect on the barriers they are facing and choose pathways that best meet their needs is critical to build self-awareness and expert learning.

In traditional instruction, many educators attempt to define how students learn with one-dimensional labels. For example, many educators will ask me, "What does UDL look like for English language learners/black and brown students/students with disabilities?" My answer is always the same, "The students in those groups are not the same and they don't need one-size-fits-all solutions."

Let's connect back to the breakfast buffet. Imagine you are labeled as a member of the "vegan group." As a result, every day you and the other vegans have plates set aside for you with sliced tomatoes and plain oatmeal. Here's the thing-not all vegans like or eat the same thing. You will want choices too and you will likely make different decisions depending on the day, your mood, and how your tummy feels. Intrapersonal variability matters just as much as interpersonal variability. And if none of the foods work for you, you will definitely need an opportunity to share what you need.

Belief 2: Firm Goals, Flexible Means

Every student can learn at high levels. When creating a universally designed learning experience, educators should ask themselves: "At the end of this lesson, unit, or professional development series, what do my learners have to know or what do they need to be able to do?" Once you identify the firm goal, ask yourself, "Based on the variability in my class, what barriers may prevent learners from working toward that goal and how can I eliminate those barriers through design?"

For example, if the firm goal is "Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence," you may predict that some students will struggle with organization. Worry not! You can create a buffet with flexible means to support learners. If you proactively provide a graphic organizer, an annotated exemplar with notes about organization, a resource that includes words, phrases, and clauses to help clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons, and the opportunity to sign up for small group instruction on organization, you can empower students to choose what they need to organize their writing.

Belief 3: Expert Learning

In his book, Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn, author Mike Anderson discusses the concept of incorporating student choice into every lesson. Many educators are afraid of handing over the reins to their students, believing they won't make the best choices. The truth is they are right to be afraid; students may make poor choices about their learning, particularly when they are first given this power.

For example, a student may choose to work in a group with his friends in which he becomes distracted instead of working alongside the teacher, where he would have been more successful. But the evaluation of that choice is where the real teaching moment comes into play. Through Anderson's "choose, do, review" method, teachers transition their roles to the facilitator and can provide feedback that guides students to understand and self-evaluate their choices, determine what works for them and what doesn't, and give them opportunities to make better choices in the future and provide feedback about learning design.

If students don't have these opportunities to "choose, do, review" their way to expert learning, they will become what Zaretta Hammond has coined as "dependent learners." Dependent learners are overly reliant on the teacher to carry the load of cognitive tasks and are unsure of how to tackle new tasks because they aren't given opportunities to learn how to be expert learners.

UDL IN ACTION

Imagine this scene in a 6th-grade health classroom: Students are sitting quietly at their desks. The learning target written on the board notes that students will identify ways to reduce their risk of spreading or contracting communicable disease. The agenda outlines classroom activities: (1) watch a CDC video and (2) write an essay on how to reduce the risk of spreading and contracting COVID-19. The lesson is aligned to grade-level standards and features a high quality resource, so what is the problem? The learning experience will not meet the needs of all students because it is one-size-fits-all, so let's give it the UDL treatment. For a lesson to truly be "universally designed," it must meet the following criteria:

Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

Learners differ in the ways they can be engaged or motivated to learn. Because there is not one means of engagement that will be optimal for all learners; providing options to build interest and commitment is essential. At the beginning of the class, the teacher projects a list of communicable diseases including the common cold, strep throat, COVID-19, and Influenza A (the flu). Each disease is paired with a visual. Some learners take out their phones to look at their throats and ask their friends, "Does my throat look like that?" The teacher asks if anyone wants to add a communicable, or spreadable, disease to the list. One student offers, "mono," so she writes it down.

For the next 10 minutes, students have the option to work independently, with a partner, or in a small group with the teacher to list as many symptoms as they can for at least one of the diseases. Students have the option to write words or draw images to represent symptoms on a provided graphic organizer. As they work, they are encouraged to use their devices for research and to find a place conducive to their learning. Two students work at a standing desk while others grab clip boards and gather on the floor with their devices.

Provide Multiple Means of Representation

The second principle of UDL reminds educators to provide multiple means of representation to build knowledge and comprehension in all learners. Not all learners comprehend information in the same way, have the same background information or funds of knowledge, or have access to the same language. When teachers present information, they often use a single representation. This is often done in a lecture, by playing a video, assigning text, or teaching vocabulary, etc. Because there is significant variability in students, they differ in the information they need to learn.

In the health lesson, after students complete the activator, there is a mini-lesson unpacking target vocabulary: risk, communicable disease, and community spread. One student's father is a nurse, so the teacher arranges for a short Zoom call where Dad talks about the importance of washing hands and wearing masks. The closed caption feature is used and students are encouraged to ask questions.

After a short discussion, the teacher provides options for students to learn more about how to prevent the spread of communicable disease: watch the CDC video in English or Spanish, read an article on Newsela, review pamphlets from the nurse's office, or explore a combination of these resources. They are provided with essential questions to support their learning. As students work, the teacher checks in with each of them, asks questions, and provides feedback.

Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

It is devastating when students aren't able to express their understanding because of inflexible assessments. Traditionally, students have been asked to share their understanding using only a single pathway, like a multiple-choice test, essay prompt, and/or project without any flexible scaffolds or supports. When teachers provide students with multiple options that are authentic and personalized, learners are able to practice executive functioning skills as they analyze the task and choose the best option to demonstrate that they met the intended outcome.

After learning about how to reduce their risk of spreading or contracting communicable disease, students are provided with numerous options to share what they have learned. They can write a response, record a video or podcast, create a pamphlet or infographic, or suggest an alternative. The teacher provides a word bank with the target vocabulary, a single-point rubric, and a checklist so students can self-assess their work before submitting it. One student asks if he can write and produce a rap as long as it meets the rubric. "Absolutely," the teacher replies. "I can't wait to hear it."

ARE UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION THE SAME?

You may be reading this and thinking, "This sounds a lot like differentiated instruction." The frameworks are similar, and complementary, but they are not the same.

Carol Tomlinson leads the field of differentiated instruction, As Tomlinson shares in her book The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, teachers in a differentiated classroom begin with their current curriculum and engaging instruction and then adapt the content, process, product, and environment to ensure that students receive the targeted intervention, support, and enrichment they need. This responsiveness is incredibly important, but may not set students up to reflect on their learning and make choices for themselves.

In the breakfast buffet analogy, you don't want to be a part of the "vegan group" where decisions are made for you. Even with the buffet, hosts need to be responsive and reflective, noting when some people aren't eating and figuring out how the buffet could be designed differently the next time. When differentiation is combined with the practices and principles of UDL, students have opportunities to reflect, make choices, and build ownership of their learning; they also benefit from more explicit support when necessary.

Unlike differentiation alone, UDL empowers students to self-differentiate their learning and build autonomy and independence; this sends a powerful message. In her book Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning, Andratesha Fritzgerald notes that this kind of design honors our students, that when we provide them with choice and voice, we communicate these things:

You are more important than the systems we serve.

You are more important than my personal preferences.

You are more important than the way the content is packaged.

I am willing to learn about you to help you reach your life goals.

You are important and I will honor you with instruction that holds you accountable and empowers you to take ownership of your own learning.

Proactively designing curriculum and instruction through the lens of UDL, and supplementing that design with differentiated instruction, is a pathway to equity-one that will have an incredible impact on learners.

As Mirko Chardin and I shared in Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL, "Educators hold incredible power: power to design learning experiences, power to set expectations for students, power to elevate and celebrate student voices, power to inspire and motivate students, the power to create consequences, and the power to allow for choice and personalization. We have to understand that all of us carry that power and privilege and we must use it as a tool to confront and dismantle inequities so all students have equal opportunities to learn."

Universal design is one path toward dismantling those inequities. Start your UDL journey now.

Learn More

As a next step, here is a buffet of high-quality resources to learn more about UDL and educational equity. Just like the Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts that I loved so much, check out your options, and choose what's best for you. And if you're like me and you want to try a little bit of everything, treat yourself!

Read It

Read this blog, written by Mirko Chardin and I, that shares that the time for equity (and UDL!) is now.

Read Chapter 1 in UDL Theory and Practice: Re-Envisioning Education through UDL (free with free login). The book is a universally designed text book, so you can read, have it read to you, or watch videos that explore concepts more deeply.

View a PDF copy of the UDL Flowchart, which is a tool to think about UDL lesson design. If you'd like to read a blog that introduces the flow chart, you can access it here.

View the UDL Progression Rubric to determine what UDL looks like at each phase of implementation.

Use the UDL Implementation Rubric to consider where your current practices are within UDL. There are no right or wrong answers. This is simply an opportunity to reflect on your current implementation. Choose the descriptor that best meets your practice and consider how you can continue to grow in UDL to create more equitable, personalized learning experiences for your students.

Read "Equity in Our Schools: A Pretty Little Lie" an article co-written with Andratesha Fritzgerald, the author of Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning.

Listen to It

Listen to this podcast on Cult of Pedagogy, Ten Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity, featuring Pedro Noguera, Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA.

Listen to this podcast from Paula Martin Johnson, where she shares concrete strategies for how educators can create a climate and curriculum that reflects students' racial and economic backgrounds, languages, religions, funds of knowledge and family structures.

Watch It

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This framework rejects one-size-fits-all teaching and offers options for how to engage, what materials to use, and how to demonstrate learning.

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SP CAD Roles/Responsibilities Document (Draft)

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SP CAD Roles/Responsibilities Document (Draft)

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Curriculum & Assessment Designer (CAD) Roles and responsibilities

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Hanover Research: Best Practices in Instructional Coaching

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Hanover Research: Best Practices in Instructional Coaching

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Best Practices in Academic Instructional Coaching.pdf

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Hanover Research:  Effective Feedback and Teacher Engagement

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Hanover Research:  Effective Feedback and Teacher Engagement

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Hanover Quality Feedback, Teacher Engagement, and Student Achievement.pdf

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Emails:

apriljstout@gmail.com

EKC Strategist

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The Essential Guide to Student Centered Coaching: Ch. 1

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The Essential Guide to Student Centered Coaching: Ch. 1

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Podcast: What it's like to be an Instructional Coach

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Podcast: What it's like to be an Instructional Coach

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It was only a few years ago that I first heard the term instructional coach. When I was in the K-12 setting, we had no such thing, at least as far as I knew. But it seems lately I hear more and more people describing themselves that way, so clearly this is a role that's growing in many schools. I thought it was time for me to take a closer look at the work instructional coaches do.

The Pennsylvania Institute for Instructional Coaching defines an instructional coach as "someone whose chief professional responsibility is to bring evidence-based practices into classrooms by working with teachers and other school leaders." Coaches are usually experienced teachers who have moved away from full-time teaching to work directly with other teachers and help them improve their practice.

Within that broad definition, roles vary from district to district and coach to coach: Some coaches refer to themselves by specific content areas-titles I hear most often are literacy coach or math coach -and other coaches focus on general instruction. Some coaches work exclusively one-on-one with teachers who have identified needs, while others may demonstrate strategies for large groups before going into the classrooms to coach individual teachers.

The path to hiring a coach can also take many forms. Coaches may be directly employed by a school or district, like Eric Sandberg, who is one of three coaches employed full-time by a single school. Other coaches, like Gretchen Schultek, work for nonprofit organizations that contract out their coaches to schools as needed. And there are other coaches who work entirely on their own, marketing their services online and building relationships with schools in their local area or even at great distances, serving clients by traveling directly to them or through online coaching.

Interviews with Two Instructional Coaches

To learn more about what coaching is like from the inside, I interviewed two instructional coaches for my podcast.

Interview #1: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers

Gretchen Schultek worked as an elementary teacher for eight years before venturing into coaching. As a coach for The New Teacher Project, she works in a variety of schools whose administrators have requested coaching services for new teachers. She also offers advice and encouragement to teachers through her blog, Always a Lesson, and her podcast of the same name.

What advice does Gretchen have for other coaches? "It's all about how you relate to one another," Gretchen explained. "You could be sharing the best piece of advice. It could be gold, but if you don't have a relationship they're not going to hear it from you and they're not going to apply it. So it's just wasted time and energy. So focus on those relationships. Also, listen more than you speak. You're going to find out a lot about someone just by listening to them. So instead of coming into a meeting ready to get right to it and share everything you planned to share, give them a minute to just share whatever it is that's on their mind because that could really be integral to their improvement."
Listen to our interview: Get Transcript
Interview #2: Eric Sandberg

Eric Sandberg is an instructional coach employed by a district in Erie, Pennsylvania. His blog, Your Instructional Coach, offers tips for coaches and tackles some interesting dynamics related to coaching.

When discussing how he approaches coaching, Eric used a toolbox metaphor. "The tools in your toolbox as a coach help teachers come to that next step, but not just always in an enforcement mode of, you know, I'm the hammer. I'm going to smash if you don't fix. So it's to be more sophisticated with your methods as a coach. Because just like in the classroom, telling is not teaching. If I just tell you, 'Oh you should really do this...' that's not teaching you in the classroom if you were the student. And it's really not very good coaching either."

Listen to our interview:

Get Transcript
What I have learned from my brief study of instructional coaching is that there's plenty more to learn. As a relatively new field, coaching has lots of room to grow, offering educators a more refined menu of coaching services from which to choose, and giving experienced teachers the opportunity to apply their skills and expertise in new roles. ♦

Learn More about Coaching

When I looked for more information on coaching, two names came up repeatedly: Elena Aguilar and Jim Knight. If you're interested in learning more about coaching, their resources would be a great place to start.

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

Elena Aguilar's blog on Education Week, The Art of Coaching Teachers, contains several years' worth of in-depth advice and information on instructional coaching. She also has a fantastic collection of coaching resources on her own website, and her book, The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation, is a best seller on Amazon.

Jim Knight is the director of the Kansas Coaching Project, whose mission is "to study factors related to professional learning and how to improve academic outcomes for students through supports provided by instructional coaches." The site offers resources and forms for coaches, videos, and research on coaching best practices. Check out his latest book, Better Conversations: Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected.

Keep in touch.
I would love to have you come back for more.Join my mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration-in quick, bite-sized packages-all geared toward making your teaching more effective and joyful. To welcome you, I'll be sending a free copy of my new e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half. I look forward to having you join me.

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What It's Like to Be an Instructional Coach

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It was only a few years ago that I first heard the term instructional coach. When I was in the K-12 setting, we had no such thing, at least as far as I knew. But it seems lately I hear more and more people describing themselves that way, so clearly this is a role that's growing in many schools.

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Instructional coaches regularly walk a tightrope between maintaining trust and demonstrating the impact of coaching to administrators. The teachers you support often only agree to coaching support because it is confidential and private. However, your principal requests evidence that coaching is effective. As stewards of limited resources, they need to demonstrate a return on investment in educational coaching and a clear indication of your coaching effectiveness.

We both work with instructional coaches and schools on a regular basis and have a foundational belief in the importance of confidentiality to the coaching process. We know that, as the coach, you may feel caught in the middle. How do you maintain teacher trust while demonstrating results to leaders? The good news: You don't have to choose between trust and transparency.

Why Confidentiality is NonNegotiable

When a teacher agrees to record a lesson, experiment with a new strategy, or unpack a classroom challenge with a coach, she's not performing: She's learning. That willingness to take an educational risk hinges on one promise: What happens in coaching stays in coaching.

Why Documenting Coaching Impact Builds Credibility

Instructional coaches who intentionally make their work visible strengthen the credibility of the profession, their work, and the sustainability of their programs. Just as teachers need psychological safety, leaders need evidence that coaching contributes to teacher growth and student success.

When coaches share concrete evidence of progress in teaching and learning, they show that coaching is not only supportive but central to a school's improvement efforts. While relationships form the foundation of coaching, its effectiveness depends on making results visible and communicating them clearly to stakeholders.

As schools face greater scrutiny over coaching investments, effective coaches make their work visible from the start. They intentionally document and demonstrate impact to show how coaching supports both teacher growth and student learning. However, this transparency doesn't require breaking confidentiality. Instead, it's about communicating results responsibly while preserving teachers' trust.

Even with strong systems and tools in place, the real challenge comes when coaches sit down with leaders. They need to show that coaching makes a difference without making teachers feel exposed. The key is to share patterns and progress, not names and narratives, using summaries or visuals that highlight growth while preserving confidentiality.

Share trends, not names. Instead of saying, "I coached Ms. Lee on scaffolding," summarize the pattern: "Across our coaching cycles, 85 percent of teachers implemented new scaffolding strategies, and walk-throughs showed increased student independence."

Use visuals, not raw data. Replace spreadsheets with visuals-like a bar graph showing growth in teacher confidence ratings over time or a pie chart of coaching cycle types-to make progress easy to see without identifying individuals.

Ask for consent. Before sharing teacher quotes or artifacts, always ask, "Would you be comfortable with my sharing this example in our coaching summary?" A teacher-approved quote such as "Using think-alouds helped my students explain their reasoning" humanizes the data while keeping consent front and center.

Tools to Balance Trust and Transparency

Coaching thrives on trust, but it also depends on visibility. The tools shared below help coaches do both: maintain the privacy that teachers deserve while communicating the results that sustain coaching programs. The Trust + Transparency Coaching System Workflow Guide to effectively and efficiently combine the checklist and template. Together, these tools help coaches balance confidentiality with transparency by protecting teacher trust while showing leaders credible evidence of impact.

Tool #1: The safe-to-share checklist. Before putting anything in a coaching report or sharing in a meeting, it helps to pause and run your notes through a simple filter. This safe-to-share checklist breaks data into three clear categories: safe, safe IF (with consent), and confidential-so you can show program impact without risking teacher trust.

When working with individuals, the key is to focus on the "safe-to-share" data from the checklist above, while maintaining your own coach-facing report. For example, coaches might track quantitative data-such as the number of teachers who implemented a targeted strategy or the frequency of student engagement in academic talk-and pair it with qualitative data, including teacher reflections, focus group notes, or brief quotes about what changed in their classrooms. Together, these data types create a balanced view of progress while keeping the process manageable.

Tool #2: The dual-report template. The dual-report system helps coaches balance confidentiality with transparency by organizing your coaching documentation into two reports. The coach-facing report is private for the coach only. This report includes your detailed notes, names, reflections, and next steps. The leader-facing summary is public and designed for leaders. It includes aggregated data, anonymized trends, and highlights safe to share. Coaches can use them together by taking take raw notes privately, then translating safe evidence into the leader summary.

Tool #3: Companion guide: Using the tools together. Coaches don't have to choose between trust and transparency. With quick tools like the checklist, the dual-report template, and group coaching formats, you can start showing impact tomorrow while protecting the relationships that make coaching work.

When coaches view the data they collect about their practice as information to help make the next decision, not as evaluation, they are creating a safe space in which to develop their own practice based on the outcome of their work so far. Coaches can do this by examining the data they collect and asking themselves: What evidence do I have that demonstrates improved student (or teacher) learning? What other evidence am I missing, or might be helpful to collect? These two questions can guide data-collection practices to track within a coach-facing report, which can be aggregated and shared with leaders in a leader-facing summary.

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How Instructional Coaches Can Balance Confidentiality and Accountability

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These strategies help instructional coaches build trust with teachers and provide transparency with administrators to maximize impact.

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For many instructional coaches, the paperwork-filling in coaching logs and calendars-never seems to stop. By Friday, many coaches have carefully logged every meeting, email, and walk-through, but have nothing captured about what actually shifted in instruction or student learning. There is a difference between tracking "coaching activity" and "coaching impact." Tracking coaching activity tells us where time went; impact data tells us whether that time mattered.

The most unmistakable evidence of learning appears in the work itself: in conversations with teachers and in classrooms where new ideas take shape. Those moments do not translate neatly into spreadsheets or test scores, but they tell the real story of growth. It is important both that coaching impact is visible and that coaches maintain the trust of teachers. To accomplish this, coaches must intentionally balance confidentiality and transparency in the design of the coaching process.

Beyond one-on-one meetings, here are three coaching formats that can produce valuable evidence of your coaching impact.

3 Coaching Formats that Make Data Visible

Group coaching formats multiply the impact of coaching. When teachers plan lessons together, try new strategies, and reflect on the results, they generate their own data. Collaboration and shared artifacts become authentic proof of growth.

Every coaching conversation has the potential to generate meaningful data if you design its structure effectively. These three formats help coaches and teachers capture authentic evidence of growth without adding more paperwork. Each includes a downloadable guide with planning templates, reflection tools, and leadership reporting tips.

1. Collaborative Inquiry Circles. These are small, coach-facilitated groups of three to six teachers who investigate a shared question about teaching and learning. The focus is on learning by doing, which involves planning together, trying strategies in classrooms, and reflecting on what works.

For example, a group of middle school teachers could concentrate on the question, "How can we increase student talk during whole class discussions?" During planning sessions, teachers share discussion strategies they want to try, such as sentence stems or structured turn-and-talks. In reflection meetings, teachers describe what they noticed in learner involvement, bring sample prompts they used, and discuss which moves led to deeper responses.

In this example, coaches collect evidence from shared planning notes, teacher reflections, and everyday observations about changes in student engagement, which together tell the story of professional learning over time.

2. Impact Story Sessions. At the close of a quarter or coaching cycle, teachers gather in Impact Story Sessions to share one small win. In a short, low-key conversation, they name what changed, what led to it, and how they know.

At the close of a quarter or coaching cycle, teachers gather in Impact Story Sessions to share one small win. In a short, low-key conversation, they name what changed, what led to it, and how they know.

For example, during an Impact Story Session, teachers might respond to the prompt, "What is one instructional change you tried that made a difference for students?" One teacher may share that simplifying directions led to smoother lesson launches, while another describes how using visual supports helped multilingual learners participate more confidently. As teachers talk, the coach captures recurring themes such as increased clarity or improved engagement. In this example, the coaching evidence comes from the recurring elements across stories, short quotes that teachers choose to share, and the consistency of instructional shifts across classrooms.

Because teachers decide what to share, confidentiality is protected, and the conversation produces collective evidence that coaches can summarize and communicate to leaders.

3. Strategy Reflection Studios. In Strategy Reflection Studios, teachers watch a colleague use a shared teaching strategy and then discuss it together using reflection prompts. Their conversation becomes data, capturing what they noticed, valued, and want to try themselves.

For example, teachers might watch a colleague use exit tickets as a formative assessment. In the debrief, they discuss what they saw in students' answers, how they adjusted their teaching on the spot, and which questions prompted students to think the most. Teachers often mention specific techniques they want to use in their own classrooms. In this case, evidence comes from what teachers notice, the words they use to describe good teaching, and the strategies they decide to try next.

This approach encourages peer observation, helps teachers use common teaching language, and builds a culture where good practice is visible in many classrooms. Coaches gather and share data from these sessions to help build momentum and strengthen the team's confidence.

Low-Stress, High-Value Reporting

Effective coaching work does not happen by chance. It is built through intentional structures that make collaboration and inquiry part of the routine rather than add-ons. When teachers plan together, test strategies in classrooms, and reflect on what they notice, they generate evidence of learning. Data collection does not feel separate from the work because it is embedded within it. This kind of evidence reflects the kinds of information leaders often look for, including instructional trends, shared practices, and indicators of professional growth. Well-designed coaching structures make learning visible without increasing paperwork, protect confidentiality, and strengthen trust.

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3 Innovative Instructional Coaching Models

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These group instructional coaching models bring teachers together and naturally generate evidence of coaching impact on student learning.

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How Instructional Coaches Can Use Co-Teaching to Support Teachers

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A matrix based on a teacher’s belief in themselves and their belief in students can facilitate effective instructional coaching.

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Video:  Teacher videos to support professional growth (visible learning)

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Video:  Teacher videos to support professional growth (visible learning)

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Using Video for Professional Development

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When teachers film themselves in the classroom, it helps them reflect on and improve their teaching practice.

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The Impact of Instructional Coaching - Instructional Coaching Group

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If you’re an instructional coach—or you’re considering stepping into the role—you’ve probably faced the question: What exactly do you do? It’s a fair question. Instructional coaching is a relatively new profession in schools, and its impact can be profound when done right. But for that to happen, we need to understand what coaching truly is—and … Continued

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The Importance of Trusting Relationships in Instructional Coaching

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When trust is at the center of the coaching relationship, the results can be transformative.

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Collaboration Tips to Help Instructional Coaches Maximize Their Impact

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Working with peers helps instructional coaches grow their repertoire of strategies, to the benefit of teachers and students.

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5 Tips for Classroom Observing: An Educational Leader’s Guide - Center for Educational Leadership | University of Washington

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For over two decades, the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) has partnered with educational leaders across the country who are…

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Coaching is one of the most effective but resource-intensive forms of professional development. Can AI fill in the gaps?

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Podcast: Elevating Coaching Practices w/ Jim Knight

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Podcast: Elevating Coaching Practices w/ Jim Knight

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Jim Knight on Elevating Coaching Practices | Corwin's Leaders Coaching Leaders Podcast

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As a RAO coaching team, we agree and commit to moving forward with...

Our next steps to make this happen will be...

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As a SP coaching team, we agree to move forward with...

Our next steps to make this happen will be...

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As a coach, I commit to moving forward with...

My next steps to make that happen will be...

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Instructional Strategies (related to EKC PL over the years)

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Instructional Strategies (related to EKC PL over the years)

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-Establish ongoing coaching notes (make copy and modify April's template)

-Implement more coaching cycles and balance the work between teachers and students

-Determine roles/responsibilities and mission/description of coaching and share with community in a meeting to kick off coaching

-Follow up with teachers on their inquiry questions (google form) to schedule initial meetings and success based observations

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Roles and Responsibilities_ April Stout.pdf

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Example: Coaching mission/vision and focus areas

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Example: Coaching mission/vision and focus areas

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K-12 Teaching and Learning Director Focus Areas 2022-23.pdf

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1. Home

2. Key Questions to Consider When Planning Lessons

CAST

Author

2020

Abstract

An alternate way to consider the UDL Guidelines is to look at some key questions that each Guideline answers. When planning a lesson or unit, consider these questions to ensure that the environment is flexible and inclusive of all learners.

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Cite As

CAST (2020). Key questions to consider when planning lessons. Wakefield, MA: Author. (Reprinted from Universal design for learning: theory and practice, by Meyer, A., Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D., 2014, Author). Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/products-services/resources/2020/udl-guidelines-key-questions-planning-lessons

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Key Questions to Consider When Planning Lessons - CAST

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An alternate way to consider the UDL Guidelines is to look at some key questions that each Guideline answers. When planning a lesson or unit, consider these questions to ensure that the environment is flexible and inclusive of all learners.

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Lee Ann Jung, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Julie Kroener Table of Contents

About the Authors

About This Book

Your Students, My Students, Our Students explores the hard truths of current special education practice and outlines five essential disruptions to the status quo. Authors Lee Ann Jung, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Julie Kroener show you how to

Establish a school culture that champions equity and inclusion.

Rethink the long-standing structure of least restrictive environment and the resulting service delivery.

Leverage the strengths of all educators to provide appropriate support and challenge.

Collaborate on the delivery of instruction and intervention.

Honor the aspirations of each student and plan accordingly.

To realize authentic and equitable inclusion, we must relentlessly and collectively pursue change. This book-written not for "special educators" or "general educators" but for all educators-addresses the challenges, maps out the solutions, and provides tools and inspiration for the work ahead. Real-life examples of empowerment and success illustrate just what's possible when educators commit to the belief that every student belongs to all of us and all students deserve learning experiences that will equip them to live full and rewarding lives.
See the book's table of contents and read excerpts
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Aboutthe Authors

Lee Ann Jung is the founder of Lead Inclusion, a clinical professor at San Diego State University, and a consultant to schools worldwide. She provides support to schools in the areas of inclusion, standards-based learning and grading, designing individualized goals and interdisciplinary supports, and measuring progress.
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Nancy Frey is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College. Frey is a recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Early Career Award from the Literacy Research Association.
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Douglas Fisher is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College. Fisher has published numerous articles on improving student achievement, and his books include The Purposeful Classroom, Building Equity, and Intentional and Targeted Teaching.
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Julie Kroener is chief of human resources and relations at Health Sciences High & Middle College. Her role includes coordinating all support services for students with and without disabilities. Kroener is a credentialed special educator and administrator in California.
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Teaching

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Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms

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Lee Ann Jung, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Julie Kroener Table of Contents About the Authors Your Students, My Students, Our Students explores the hard truths of current special education practice and outlines five essential disruptions to the status quo.

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Escola Concept MS/HS Debrief and Next Steps (Aug 2025)

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Escola Concept MS/HS Debrief January 2026