Even under ideal conditions, teaching is tough work. Facing unrelenting pressure from administrators and parents and caught in a race against time to improve student outcomes, educators can easily become discouraged (or worse, burn out completely) without a robust coaching system in place to support them. For more than 20 years, perfecting such a system has been the paramount objective of best-selling author and coaching guru Jim Knight and his team of researchers at the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). In The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching, Knight offers a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an instructional coaching program laser-focused on every educator's ultimate goal: the academic success of students.Organized around ICG's seven "Success Factors" for great instructional coaching, this book offers: An in-depth guide to the Impact Cycle, ICG's research-based and field-tested model for coaching teachers through issues that matter most to them; Detailed guidance on how to create a "playbook" of instructional strategies to share with collaborating teachers-and how to model those strategies under different conditions; Practical advice on preparing for and engaging in substantive, reflective, and teacher-centered coaching conversations; Best practices for gathering, analyzing, and responding to data for improved teaching and learning; and Real-life anecdotes and testimonies from educators and coaches who have reaped the benefits of the Impact Cycle in a diverse array of schools. In addition, each chapter of the book contains a learning map to help orient you and a list of valuable additional resources to complement the text. Whether you're new to coaching or well versed in the practice, The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching will no doubt prove a cornerstone of your coaching library for years to come.

A clear and comprehensive guide to evaluating and supporting instructional coaches and coaching programs, including how to recruit, hire, and retain effective coaches. With sound practices in place to evaluate coaching programs, instructional coaches will become better partners, teachers will become better mentors, and students will become better learners.Few evaluation systems are specifically geared toward coaching roles. Ensuring that school districts have accurate information about both coaches and coaching programs is crucial to guide improvement in supporting classrooms, as well as in ensuring accountability. With sound evaluation processes in place, districts can effectively evaluate instructional coaches and coaching programs and use data to set goals. A joint publication of ASCD and One Fine Bird Press.

The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching offers a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an instructional coaching program laser-focused on every educator's ultimate goal: the academic success of students. For more than 20 years, perfecting such a system has been the paramount objective of best-selling author and coaching guru Jim Knight and his team of researchers at the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). Organized around ICG's seven 'Success Factors' for instructional coaching, this book offers: - An in-depth guide to the Impact Cycle, ICG's research-based and field-tested model for coaching teachers through issues that matter most to them. - Detailed guidance on how to create a 'playbook' of instructional strategies to share with collaborating teachers - and how to model those strategies under different conditions. - Practical advice on preparing for and engaging in substantive, reflective, and teacher-centred coaching conversations. - Best practices for gathering, analysing, and responding to data for improved teaching and learning. - Real-life anecdotes and testimonies from educators and coaches who have reaped the benefits of the Impact Cycle in a diverse array of schools. In addition, each chapter of the book contains a learning map to help orient you and a list of valuable additional resources to complement the text. Whether you're new to coaching or well versed in the practice, The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching will no doubt prove a cornerstone of your coaching library for years to come.

In schools, every day is ""game day."" Every day, teachers need the best resources and forms of support because students deserve the best we as educators can offer. An instructional playbook aims to serve as that kind of support: a tool that coaches can use to help teachers match specific learning goals with the right research-based instructional strategies. Coaches have enormous potential to help teachers learn and implement new teaching practices, but coaches will be effective only if they deeply understand the strategies they describe and their explanations are clear. The Instructional Playbook: The Missing Link for Translating Research into Practice addresses both issues head on and offers a simple and clear explanation of how to create a playbook uniquely designed to meet teachers' instructional needs. The idea of an instructional playbook has caught fire since Jim Knight described it in The Impact Cycle (2017). This book helps instructional coaches create playbooks that produce a common language about high-impact teaching strategies, deepen everyone's understanding of what instructional coaches do, and, most important, support teachers and students in classrooms.

This book builds on Jim Knight's groundbreaking instructional coaching work with an original coaching cycle model that has been implemented and field tested in hundreds of schools with great success.

Instructional coaching focuses on research-based instructional strategies that can have the biggest impact in improving a teacherAEs practice. Jim Knight has worked as a trainer, developer, and researcher in instructional coaching for many years and has broad experience not only training coaches but also collecting data about the effects of his coaching program. In this book, the author explains the essential coaching skills that instructional coaches need to develop, including listening, observing, modeling, and collaborating. Along with coaching skills and knowledge, this book provides guidance for leveraging instructional interventions that form the foundation of effective instructional practice. First person stories and quotes from coaches working in the trenches provide readers with a realistic picture of the responsibilities, challenges, and joys of coaching. This user- friendly resource also contains chapter organizers, resources for deeper learning, forms, worksheets, checklists, logs, reports, and all the other tools coaches and would-be coaches need. This book is perfect for coaches and aspiring coaches along with the staff developers, trainers, teacher leaders, principals, and other educators who work with coaches and oversee coaching programs.

To improve our teaching methods, we must understand what our current teaching methods are. And this is impossible to do this based only on our own perceptions or even feedback from observers. A classroom is a dynamic environment and there is always a lot going on that can be missed in the moment. The solution, according to renowned professional development expert Jim Knight, is video. In Focus on Teaching, Knight turns to the vast and disruptive potential of video recording to reach new levels of excellence in schools. This book builds on Knight's prior bestsellers to show how every classroom can easily benefit from setting up a camera and hitting "record." The book includes Strategies that teachers, instructional coaches, teams, and administrators can use to get the most out of using video Tips for ensuring that video recordings are used in accordance with ethical standards and teacher/student comfort levels Protocols, data gathering forms, and many other tools to get the most out of watching video With Jim Knight's expertise and the latest in video technology, positive change in your classroom will be immediate and long-lasting.

Coaching is one of the hottest topics in education today. Yet many educators are confused about the roles and responsibilities of coaches. This handbook will gather together the leading experts in coaching and provide a snapshot of the current coaching landscape. Key features: Includes chapters on the different types of coaches--literacy coach, math coach, data coach, etc. The contributors represent some of the biggest names in coaching, including Joellen Killion, Cathy Toll, Jane Ellison, Lucy West, and Nancy Love

"Unmistakable Impact takes us deeper into the realm of grounded school improvement-a great contribution to the field." -Michael Fullan, Professor and Author University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Centre for Teacher Development "This book exemplifies everything Jim Knight advocates: a clear focus, respect for educators' significant contributions, and the value that well-designed professional learning contributes to school improvement efforts." -Dennis Sparks, Former Executive Director Learning Forward A focused approach to school improvement that hits the mark A staggering amount of evidence shows that our schools are not as effective as they should be, and they are working toward improvement. This book simplifies the process for becoming an Impact School through targeted, consistent professional learning that is done with teachers, not to teachers. Award-winning author Jim Knight describes how to translate staff members' joy of learning into high-leverage practices that achieve dramatic student outcomes. Characteristics of Impact Schools include A focused, clearly defined improvement plan that takes into account the complexity of teaching and learning relationships A school culture that encourages enrollment in ongoing professional development Alignment of purpose and actions among all staff members Helpful resources include tangible tools and reproducibles for use by principals, workshop leaders, professional learning communities, and instructional coaches. When everyone learns, every student receives excellent instruction every day in every class. Unmistakable Impact provides the roadmap to remarkable results.

Check out The Better Conversations trailer: https://youtu.be/y3FrWTXC8Uw "I thought I knew how to have a conversation; I've had millions of them. Some were good, others not so much so. But I want to have GREAT conversations, and Jim Knight has taught me how. The proof is in: better conversations are possible and the results are worth the investment." --DOUGLAS FISHER Coauthor of Rigorous Reading and Unstoppable Learning Because conversation is the lifeblood of any school You don't want this book-you need this book. Why this confident claim? Think about how many times you've walked away from school conversations, sensing they could be more productive, but at a loss for how to improve them. Enter instructional coaching expert Jim Knight, who in Better Conversations honors our capacity for improving our schools by improving our communication. Asserting that our schools are only as good as the conversations within them, Jim shows us how to adopt the habits essential to transforming the quality of our dialogues. As coaches, as administrators, as teachers, it's time to thrive. Learn how to: Coach ourselves and each other to become better communicators Listen with empathy Find common ground Build Trust Our students' academic, social, and emotional growth depends upon our doing this hard work. It's time to roll up our sleeves, open our minds, and dare to change for the better of the students we serve. You can get started now with Better Conversationsand the accompanying Reflection Guide to Better Conversations.

A widely used, highly effective approach to student success, Student-Focused Coaching (SFC) helps instructional coaches and teachers work collaboratively to improve student outcomes using evidence-based practices. This is your one-stop, step-by-step guide to instructional coaching in K–12 schools using the field-tested, research-based SFC model. Featuring a foreword by Jim Knight, the leading voice on instructional coaching, this book was coauthored by the lead developer of the SFC model (Jan Hasbrouck) and an experienced instructional coach and trainer (Daryl Michel). These expert authors help you master the three key roles of coaching: Facilitator, Collaborative Problem-Solver, and Teacher/Learner. You’ll discover how to build respectful and mutually beneficial professional relationships with every teacher—from the most eager to the most reluctant—and work together to help all students learn and thrive in the classroom. To help you put the SFC model into action, the book offers practical activities and materials, including application exercises, reflection exercises, virtual coaching tips, and 20+ pages of ready-to-use downloadable forms.LEARN HOW TO Partner with teachers to tackle a range of classroom challenges—academic, behavioral, and social-emotional Develop collaborative communication skills to help you navigate even the most challenging conversations Work with teachers to set and achieve goals by identifying, selecting, and implementing evidence-based interventions Help teachers support struggling students with goal-based, targeted, and intensive instruction Improve time management skills using a four-step, systematic problem-solving process Collect different types of data and use it to give helpful feedback to the teachers you work with Design continuous professional learning opportunities that meet individual teacher needs Deliver support to administrators to make the most of the benefits coaches can provide   PRACTICAL DOWNLOADS: The book includes access to 20+ pages of downloadable materials for coaches, including worksheets, checklists, tracking sheets, and self-assessments.

High Impact Instruction is a response to the pressing need among school leaders for research-validated, high-leverage instructional practices that have a significant, positive impact on the way teachers teach and students learn. Author Jim Knight provides a simple but powerful framework and set of tools for improving classroom management, content planning, instruction, and assessment. In addition, the book addresses the most effective forms of professional learning that can be used to ensure that teachers learn the Big Four teaching practices: Instructional Coaching, Partnership Learning, and Intensive Learning Teams.

"Jim Knight is one of the wise men of coaching. His well is deep; he draws from it the best tools from practitioners, the wisdom of experience, and research-based insights. And he never loses sight of the bigger picture: the point of all this is to have more impact in this life we're lucky enough to live." -MICHAEL BUNGAY STANIER, Author of The Coaching Habit Every decade or so a book comes along that has such a profound impact on professional practice that it launches a movement. Such was the case ten years ago with Jim Knight's Instructional Coaching. Now, it's about to happen again with The Impact Cycle and this The Reflection Guide to The Impact Cycle, in which Jim shares his latest thinking, and advances an all-new instructional coaching cycle to help teachers and, in turn, their students improve in clear, measurable ways. What makes this Reflection Guide the perfect companion to The Impact Cycle? Because it functions almost like a daily planner for reaching, even exceeding, your coaching goals. Jam-packed with key concepts, prompts, and exercises, this guide will prove indispensable to Coaches who wish to accelerate progress toward goals and move their practices forward Leaders of coaches looking for a simple, effective model to get all stakeholders on the same page Join the hundreds of thousands of educators who already have benefited from Jim's ground-breaking work. Read The Impact Cycle, build upon your expertise with this companion Reflection Guide, and soon enough you, too, will experience the next "Jim Knight phenomenon." View Jim Knight's Impact Cycle video trailer:

Rock-Star Leaders Stand Out Up and coming leaders have a challenge: How do you enhance your company's culture in your current role? How do you establish yourself as a leader who takes your organization's brand to eleven? You may not be an executive, and you may or may not have direct reports, but author, speaker, and trainer Jim Knight would assert that, nonetheless, you have the power to be a major influencer of your organization's culture, lighting it up and making it rock, from the inside out. Part of Knight's Culture That Rocks series, Leadership That Rocks uses examples from some of the country's most recognizable figures to show you how to become culture-driven, a versatile manager, and a catalyst for change within your organization. You will learn how to develop your own leadership and to powerfully grow your brand's culture from within your sphere of influence. Full of practical advice and actionable tips, Leadership That Rocks gives you the goods to stand out as a rock-star leader who knows how to amp up business results.

'Bursting with fresh ideas, packed with practical tips, filled with wise words, this is an inspiring guide for all teachers.' Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility, University of Exeter and co-author of What Works? 50 tried-and-tested practical ideas to help you tackle the top ten issues in your classroom. Ross Morrison McGill, bestselling author of Mark. Plan. Teach. and Teacher Toolkit, pinpoints the top ten key issues that schools in Great Britain are facing today, and provides strategies, ideas and techniques for how these issues can be tackled most effectively. We often talk about the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention, about new initiatives and political landscapes, but day in, day out, teachers and schools are delivering exceptional teaching and most of it is invisible. Ross uncovers, celebrates, and analyses best practice in teaching. Supported by case studies and research undertaken by Ross in ten primary and secondary schools across Britain, including a pupil referral unit and private, state and grammar schools, as well as explanations from influential educationalists as to why and how these ideas work, Ross explores the issues of marking and assessment, planning, teaching and learning, teacher wellbeing, student mental health, behaviour and exclusions, SEND, curriculum, research-led practice and CPD. With a foreword by Lord Jim Knight and contributions from Priya Lakhani, Andria Zafirakou, Mark Martin, Professor Andy Hargreaves and many more, this book inspires readers to open their eyes to how particular problems can be resolved and how other schools are already doing this effectively. It is packed with ideas and advice for all primary and secondary classroom teachers and school leaders keen to provide the best education they possibly can for our young people today.

Every worthwhile book has a deeply held belief, and for Jim Knight's Better Conversations and this worktext, The Reflection Guide to Better Conversations, here it is: "Effective communication is an essential skill for a fulfilled life, and we can't teach it to students if we don't know how to do it ourselves." Instructional coaches, administrators, teachers . . . really everyone: the royal we is you. In this Reflection Guide, Jim delivers a framework for improving professional dialogue that is so clearly signposted, you might as well call it a day planner. Here's how The Reflection Guide to Better Conversations works: In Part One, you and your peers engage in surveys, take stock, and record video in order to get real about your current beliefs and abilities. How do you measure up when it comes to empathy, asking better questions? Finding common ground? In Part Two, learn about the 10 habits of being an effective communicator, and put them into practice. Are your conversations focused on others 50 percent of the time? What things typically distract you from being fully present? In Better Conversations, Jim Knight reveals why true dialogue improves professional performance, job satisfaction, and classroom instruction. Together with this Reflection Guide, the two books provide a brilliant, scaffolded professional learning experience on a topic central to learning, central to life. This is the district-wide solution you need-are you ready?

Coaching is one of the hottest topics in education today. Yet many educators are confused about the roles and responsibilities of coaches. This handbook will gather together the leading experts in coaching and provide a snapshot of the current coaching landscape. Key features: Includes chapters on the different types of coaches--literacy coach, math coach, data coach, etc. The contributors represent some of the biggest names in coaching, including Joellen Killion, Cathy Toll, Jane Ellison, Lucy West, and Nancy Love