Key Action II.7

Determine the Plan for Coaching

What is the goal?

The goal of this key action is to look across all the plans you’ve made, check them for alignment, and communicate them with stakeholders. You’ll also finalize your curriculum implementation goals and establish a plan for monitoring progress toward those goals. Additionally, you’ll revisit the roles and responsibilities you’ve discussed and make sure there’s a plan to provide everyone the support they need to execute their given tasks.

Why this key action is important

Implementing new instructional materials well is an expansive process: from figuring out plans for grading and assessment to determining how to support your teachers and leaders through training and coaching. It takes many separate plans, but they all need to fit together. If not, you run the risk of mixed signals, inconsistent expectations, or gaps in resources. Taking the time to look across all the plans you’ve made and make sure they support consistent goals, practices, and messaging is essential for a smooth and successful implementation process. Taking the time to make sure everyone has what they need to execute all these plans is also critical—and best thought through on the front end in order to prevent the confusion and frustration that occurs when an initiative is started then abruptly stopped due to lack of resources.

Explanation of language

We use the phrase progress monitoring plan to refer to the work you will need to do in order to know how things are going.

steps

guiding questions

notes & resources

  • 1.
    What, if any, adjustments do we need to make to our draft goals for implementation?
  • 2.
    How will we know if we reach our goals?
  • 3.
    For each goal, when will we know if we are on track?
  • 4.
    What data will we review?
  • 5.
    Operationally, what needs to happen to get this data? Who is responsible?
  • 6.
    In addition to monitoring progress, how will we collect stakeholder feedback?
  • 7.
    When will we step back to review our progress toward our goals holistically? Who will be part of these stepbacks?
  • 8.
    Who should each group of stakeholders go to with questions?
  • 1.
    Looking across our plans for collaborative planning, coaching, and training, do they focus on and support consistent goals and priorities?
  • 2.
    Altogether, are our support systems workable? Do we have the capacity (e.g., time, materials, personnel) to run them effectively?
  • 3.
    Do we need to adjust our training and support plan in any way?
  • Review the plans you developed for supporting planning, coaching, and training in Key Actions II.4–II.6. These represent your Three Pillars of Teacher Support. Now that you have finished your plans for the Three Pillars of Teacher Support, stop to make sure they are aligned and provide coherent support for teachers. Make sure that these systems work together to support teachers and ensure that teachers are getting consistent messages and feedback about how to utilize materials.
  • 4.
    What will each stakeholder group want to know about our training and support plan?
  • 5.
    How do we plan to proactively communicate this information? Who will deliver the communication? When?
  • 6.
    What questions do we expect we will get? How will we answer them?
  • 1.
    Revisit the roles and responsibilities section of your Implementation Plan. Does anything need to change?
  • 2.
    Are the roles and responsibilities clear? Are there places of potential overlap or confusion?
  • 3.
    Does any group or one person have an unreasonable workload? What can we do to prioritize and reassign?
  • Your team originally set the roles and responsibilities in Step II.1.A: Identify the Implementation Support Team and Leader, and you have been able to adjust across Phase II.
  • Step back from this list and make sure the distribution of work makes sense.
  • Just like in Phase I, setting up decision-making protocols in advance will make things easier down the road.
  • 4.
    Revisit the key decision section of your Implementation Plan. What are the key decisions, activities, and deadlines? Is anything missed? Is anything redundant?
  • 5.
    How will we check in to ensure that all of the work gets done?
  • 6.
    Review the communications section of your Implementation Plan. Do you need to communicate anything else about your final plans? If so, how and when?
  • Go back to your Implementation Plan and be sure that everyone involved knows their key work and deadlines. Think through your key stakeholder groups and whether they’ve received, or will receive, the information they need to understand and feel invested in the goals and plans for implementation.
  • 1.
    What are we doing to build and maintain engagement in curriculum implementation over time?
  • 2.
    What can we do proactively now to secure the resources needed for a multi-year implementation effort?
  • 3.
    What will we do if Implementation Support Team members or other key implementation leaders change roles or leave?
  • 4.
    Where else do we need to think about or build capacity so we’re set up to meet our short- and long-term goals?
  • For many districts, the initial launch of curriculum implementation can be a honeymoon period—educators are interested in and excited about the new materials and ready to jump in. But maintaining engagement over time can be challenging. Phase III provides opportunities to reflect on and respond to implementation needs as they come up, but it can be helpful here during the planning stage to try to get ahead of potential challenges.
  • Building relationships, communicating openly and frequently, creating opportunities to hear feedback, and naming and celebrating success and progress are all strategies that support ongoing engagement.
  • 5.
    What are we going to do as an Implementation Support Team to celebrate finishing this important planning work?
  • You have finished Phase II! You should now have a clear plan for implementation support. Next, it is time to launch the work.
  • Find a list of ways that you can celebrate in the resource Celebration Ideas!
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Workbook

This workbook is designed to help a school or system leadership team work through the implementation process together. Assemble your team, print or download the workbook, find your starting point, and dig in together.

Download Workbook