Coaching our coaches: How online learning can address the gap in preparing K-12 instructional coaches

Teaching and Teacher Education 88 (2020) 102959

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Coaching our coaches: How online learning can address the gap in preparing K-12 instructional coaches Lindsay Stoetzel 1, *, Stephanie Shedrow 2 University of Wisconsin-Madison, 225 N. Mills Street, Madison, WI, 53706, United States

h i g h l i g h t s  Educators prioritized the need to define and organize coaching work.  The online platform supported professional growth through job-embedded assignments.  The design of social interactions provided individualized and applicable feedback.  Activities were most impactful when responsive to authentic problems of practice.

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 26 February 2019 Received in revised form 8 October 2019 Accepted 20 October 2019 Available online xxx

This paper examines why educators in an online coaching program sought professional development and how learning experiences fostered professional growth. A qualitative case study was employed to highlight four participant experiences. Findings demonstrate that educators prioritized the need to define and organize their work as coaches. While the social nature of learning was instrumental, the jobembedded nature of coursework was foundational to grounding inquiry in authentic problems of practice. Together, these experiences enabled participants to flexibly map learning to their specific school context(s). Implications address future designs of professional learning for educators. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Instructional coaching is quickly becoming one of the most prevalent forms of teacher professional development (Knight, 2019), both in the United States and internationally (e.g. Kho, Saeed, & Mohamed, 2019; Kotze, Fleisch, & Taylor, 2019; Netolicky, 2016; Zuilkowski & Piper, 2017). As ongoing professional development (PD) has been established as a critical dimension of efforts to improve teacher quality (Gore et al., 2017; Kyriakides, Christoforidou, Panayiotou, & Creemers, 2017), instructional coaching offers individualized learning through one-on-one or small group cycles (Knight, 2006). Additionally, it has been correlated to increases in teacher efficacy (Cantrell & Hughes, 2008) and

* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Stoetzel), [email protected] (S. Shedrow). 1 Present address: 409 Bishop Hall, Ferris State University, 1349 Cramer Circle, Big Rapids, MI 49307, United States. 2 Present address: 430 Wood Hall, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311, United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102959 0742-051X/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

student achievement (e.g. Biancarosa, Bryk, & Dexter, 2010; Campbell & Malkus, 2011; Elish-Piper & L’Allier, 2011; Marsh, Mccombs, & Martorell, 2012). Yet, the widespread adoption of coaching programs has led to mixed outcomes (e.g. Kraft, Blazar, & Hogan, 2018; Neufeld & Roper, 2003; Poglinco et al., 2003). Research illustrates how many instructional coaches enter into positions without a thorough understanding of coaching practice or even a clear vision of their role as a coach (Gallucci, Van Lare, Yoon, & Boatright, 2010). This gap in initial and ongoing coach learning is accompanied by a lack of literature addressing the design and associated outcomes for such PD (Denton & Hasbrouck, 2009; Gallucci et al., 2010; Woulfin & Rigby, 2017). While several divergent coaching models exist, generally speaking, research defines instructional coaching as a form of PD that seeks to facilitate change in teacher practice through a coaching partnership (Mangin & Dunsmore, 2015). The scope and selection of goals, the relationship between coach and teacher, and the degree to which coaching is seen as an evaluative measure can vary widely across models (Gibbons & Cobb, 2017). Furthermore, coaching may or may not be integrated into a broader vision for professional learning that can span individual, small group and

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large group contexts. How clearly a district defines the role of instructional coach can also impact the fidelity to those responsibilities, as coaches often find themselves tackling several administrative and instructional tasks that may only be tangentially related to the expressed goals of a coaching program (Kane & Rosenquist, 2019). The scarcity of research addressing the strategic organization of initial or ongoing training of coaches (Mangin & Dunsmore, 2015), compounded by the inconsistency surrounding coaching roles, has generated an atmosphere of uncertainty about the content, process, and responsibility for supporting coach growth. Districts are often left to their own devices to train instructional coaches through formal or informal means, if at all. To address this gap, the present study examines the experiences of educators enrolled in a university-based instructional coaching program to better understand if and how their activities within the online learning environment supported their professional learning needs. The central research questions ask: What do instructional coaches desire from professional learning opportunities? How do they describe meaningful learning experiences? As such, the goal of this paper is to provide insight into participant experiences to inform the future design of learning activities, in online and face-to-face settings, that respond to the interests and needs of aspiring and practicing coaches.

learners (Hasbrouck & Denton, 2005). Marsh et al. (2012) found that a coach’s ability to work with adult learners was significantly related to the impact of coaching on teacher practice. Furthermore, research raises concerns that the prioritization of content-specific learning can jeopardize adequate training related to interpersonal skills (Denton & Hasbrouck, 2009), as focusing too much time on the what of coaching content might leave little room to address the how of coaching practices. However, it is less clear how to balance and facilitate these aims within professional development. Limited research articulates the structure of coach PD (Denton & Hasbrouck, 2009; Gallucci et al., 2010; Woulfin & Rigby, 2017), which is further complicated by the diversity of coaching models available for implementation. A district’s coaching visiondor lack thereofdsets the scope for who coaches are, what coaches do, and therefore, how coaches need to grow professionally. The nature of coach learning activities must then align with the theoretical and practical implications of that vision (Mangin & Dunsmore, 2015). This contextualization challenges the notion that the content and practices of coach learning activities can be concretely stated, as the definition of coaching itself remains unstable. As a result, this study draws on theories for teacher learning most likely to impact educator professional growth on an individual level. These dimensions address the needs of adult learners and the practices aligned to the coaching model utilized in this study (StudentCentered Coaching).

2. Review of relevant literature 2.2. Educator professional learning Discussion and analysis of coach learning experiences presented in this paper draw from the fields of instructional coaching and educator professional learning. The challenge of defining coaching work (as documented within the instructional coaching literature) complicates the design of coach learning. Since research offers limited and conflicting insight into the content and purpose of such training, we ground our analysis in the research on educator professional learning broadly and more specifically in online contexts. This allows us to situate our participant stories in relation to core dimensions informing the design and outcomes of learning activities for educators. 2.1. Instructional coaching Literature from the 1980s through the early 2000s associates instructional coaching with positive outcomes in teacher performance and student learning. Researchers have correlated coaching with increased outcomes in lesson planning, instruction for students with disabilities, classroom behavior management strategies, scaffolding instruction to meet learning targets, improvements in school culture, increased teacher collaboration, and overall systematic reform (Desimone & Pak, 2017). Coaching gained even more traction as a legitimate form of PD for educators in the 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, now named the Every Student Succeeds Act. Throughout the bill, state departments of education and local school districts are prompted to train coaches working with teachers to develop assessments, interpret student data, differentiate instruction, provide feedback, and evaluate performance (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015). This federal support of coaching has spurred widespread growth in the field and research into leveraging practices to maximize student learning (Desimone & Pak, 2017). However, while lawmakers and educators agree that there is a need for ongoing support for teachers, how coaches should be trained to support these instructional outcomes has yet to be fully explored. The literature consistently asserts that instructional coaches should receive training in both content-specific knowledge (L’Allier, Elish-Piper, & Bean, 2010) and skills for working with adult

In framing his vision of adult learning theory, Knowles (1984) identified several characteristics relevant to educator PD including acknowledgment of the self-directed nature of adult learners, integration of prior knowledge and experiences to new learning, and the direct application to current work contexts. Intrinsic motivation underlies these dimensions and is even more instrumental than extrinsic motivation when creative and flexible problem-solving is required (Cox, 2015; Pink, 1995). The literature on teacher PD also recognizes the importance of educator development across career trajectories (Feiman-Nemser, 2012). While an inquiry stance is commonly used to refer to the growth mindset educators might adopt, Ball and Cohen (1999) distinguish between learning from practice and simply gaining experience. Implicit in this definition is the importance of situating learning within authentic contexts, as learning about practice takes place through unique and complex experiences. Furthermore, in their analysis of literature on teacher education, Gibbons and Cobb (2017) identified the following five dimensions for designing PD opportunities: (1) the structure should be ongoing/take place over time; (2) engage authentic problems of practice; (3) support inquiry into student thinking; (4) build teacher communities as spaces to enact and refine professional discourse; (5) and engage pedagogies of investigation and enactment (Grossman et al., 2009) to translate findings into practice. To align educator PD to these conceptions, instruction should be designed around choice, should validate local expertise, and should build upon existing professional knowledge (Learning Forward, 2011). In one of the few available studies on coach PD, Woulfin (2017) identified a gap between instructional activities and coaching contexts, further reinforcing the need to situate PD in response to participants’ authentic problems. Positioning ongoing coaching activities as venues for learning is one way to support this aim. Inviting coaches to become co-learners alongside teaching partners can foster growth through reflection into practice (Steckel, 2009; Wall & Palmer, 2015). Research also supports the use of video analysis (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2013) and discourse analysis (Heineke, 2013; Rainville & Jones, 2008) to deepen practitioner reflection into

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the collaborative process, which is foundational to the StudentCentered Coaching model (Sweeney, 2010). Additionally, building communities of practice can foster horizontal and vertical expertise as instrumental in effecting long-term change within educator practice (Marsh, Bertrand, & Huguet, 2015). 2.3. Online professional learning for educators Many instructional coaches work in isolation from professional communities, as districts may lack financial or resource capacity to facilitate such learning opportunities. In these cases, the online environment offers an alternative platform for PD (Elliott, 2017). Research indicates that online PD can provide comparable learning to face-to-face PD (Fishman et al., 2013) and may even support critical reflection in ways distinct from face-to-face settings (Unwin, 2015). Such PD can also support the tenets of adult learning theory by offering choice, ownership, and connectivity to educators. For example, Parsons et al. (2019) found that US teachers perceived the ability to access PD at any time and to go at their own pace as the most favorable outcome of engaging in online learning. However, the impact of such accessibility is tempered by the challenge of fostering active participation (Maci
a & García, 2016) and offering on-demand flexibility as an asset without becoming a limitless commitment (Bergviken Rensfeldt, Hillman, & Selwyn, 2018). In their literature review of formally-organized online professional learning for educators, Lantz-Andersson, Lundin, and Selwyn (2018) found that information sharing was both an outcome and goal within online communities, though the impact of such sharing was alternatively described as transformational or superficial. For example, such interactions can be described as offering support without deepening inquiry or reflection into concepts or practices (Jarosewich, Lenhart, & Krosnick, 2010). Similarly, while the opportunity to receive meaningful feedback has been noted as a design component of online PD (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2018), studies of participant experiences have not always prioritized the value of such exchanges (Parsons et al., 2019). More considerable attention is needed to understand how such elements within PD contribute to educator sensemaking and practice (Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit, & McCloskey, 2009; Moon, Passmore, Resier, & Michaels, 2014). Research also calls for educator perspectives on how specific technologies within online communities foster engagement (Lantz-Andersson et al., 2018) and learning outcomes (Yurkofsky, Blum-Smith, & Brennan, 2019). These perspectives inform our analysis of participant learning experiences as we identify dimensions of learning design that were most impactful in responding to the professional learning needs and interests of coaches in this study. In particular, we attempt to extend the literature on educator learning broadly to better account for the experience of instructional coaches specifically. 3. Methodology 3.1. Context An instrumental case study design (Stake, 1995) was used to understand participant perspectives within the selected instructional coaching program. As instructors, we were struck by participant diversity in geographic location, professional experience, and current roles. This scope challenged us to question the efficacy of our course designs and the ability to meaningfully engage adult learners with wide-ranging backgrounds and levels of investment. As such, this study allowed us to address the gap in research on coach learning by inquiring into the purpose(s) for participant enrollment and the outcomes of specific learning

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activities. The focal case presented in this study is situated within a large, midwestern university and supported through a department of educational outreach. The program offers a structured approach to sustained professional learning that is regionally decentralized as a result of the fully online format. Participants enroll in four semesters of job-embedded coursework through direct engagement with instructors and fellow participants organized into professional learning communities (PLCs). Course participants are drawn from an international pool representing a variety of educational positions, including practicing and aspiring coaches, administrators, and educational consultants. To date, 183 participants have enrolled in at least one course, while 79 participants have completed the series to earn a Coaching Certificate (a form of microcredentialing to indicate specialized coaching knowledge without awarding a degree or license). Additionally, the program has maintained a continous waiting list for enrollment since its inception in 2015. This significant participant completion ratedmassive open online courses have a completion rate of only 13% (Onah, Sinclair, & Boyatt, 2014)dand steady enrollment made the instructional coaching program ideal to understand participant motivations and learning outcomes. The instructional coaching program uses a Student-Centered Coaching model that addresses teacher practice through the lens of student learning (Sweeney, 2010; Sweeney & Harris, 2016). This approach positions the teacher and coach as collaborators drawing on shared expertise to set standards-based goals, use formative assessment to interpret student performance in relation to targets, differentiate instruction based on evidence, and co-teach in the classroom space. These practices form the basis for the coaching courses, which range from 5 to 10 weeks in length. The Foundations course supports participants to develop a plan for implementing Student-Centered Coaching at their site. Then, participants complete Assessment Analysis to develop strategies for partnering with teachers to plan, implement, and use assessments to guide instruction. Next, Organizational Change shifts to a theoretical lens focused on mechanisms supporting change processes at multiple levels (teacher, school, and district). Finally in the Practicum, participants apply and analyze specific coaching practices onsite in alignment with individual coaching goals. 3.2. Participants The population for this study was bound by the case and the following inclusion criteria: individuals must be (a) a former participant who completed the certificate series; or (b) a current participant who completed multiple certificate courses. Of the individuals recruited, fourteen agreed to participate in this study (see Appendix 1). As an instrumental case study, it was essential to look more closely into a limited number of participant stories to deepen inquiry. This lens allowed us to demonstrate the similarities across coaching storiesdeven as they are situated in vastly different settings and contextsdwhile simultaneously maximizing the participant heterogeneity (Patton, 2002). To construct our sample, we first eliminated three individuals who opted out of the interview process. From the remaining 11 individuals, we chose to omit the stories of external coaching consultants (3/11) as their training and goals were inherently different from individuals hired within districts. Finally, we chose to highlight half of the remaining stories by applying maximum variation sampling (Maxwell, 2013) while accounting for gender (2/8 identified as male), geographic location (4/ 8 international), content area (6/8 working in literacy areas), and position (including aspiring (1/8), informal/split (2/8), and full-time (5/8) coaching roles). We also selected participants who had completed more coursework whenever possible (leading to the

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Table 1 Study participants. Name

Location

Professional Title/Responsibilities

Content Expertise

Yani Elliott Hannah Andrea

USA Colombia Brazil Brazil

teacher; collaborates with colleagues but not formally coaching literacy support coach, department chair, teacher instructional coach instructional coach

elementary school; English Language Learners high school; English elementary school; literacy middle school; mathematics

illuminating similar ideas. We then used this coding list to analyze documents by identifying segments of text pertinent to the research focus (Bowen, 2009). A few additional codes were identified in this process and subsequently added to the existing code list. From here, the first themes were identified by examining the patterns and relationships between categories. For example, the codes related to ‘identity’ (category) described the challenges associated with transitioning into coaching roles, which was further complicated by ‘perceptions of the coaching role’ (category) as it pertained to administrator, coach, and teacher beliefs about who a coach is and what a coach does. This led to the creation of the theme ‘(in)stability of coaching identities’. Following this process, we condensed and refined our initial themes into overarching themes to represent our findings (see Table 3). The three overarching themes presented within the Findings include: in search of professional learning, learning through job-embedded coursework, and the role of social interactions.

selection of a second participant from Brazil as she had completed more coursework than comparable participants). Table 1 provides a description of the four participants selected for inclusion. 3.3. Data collection and analysis Data sources included interviews and document analysis of learning artifacts. Triangulation of data sources (Maxwell, 2013) allowed details from interviews to reinforce evidence from completed coursework and participant-to-participant discussions. The research team conducted hour-long, semi-structured interviews focused on participant background and prior learning, professional experiences related to coaching, and engagement in learning activities throughout the coaching program. Interviews were conducted using web conferencing technology. The audio was recorded and transcribed for analysis. Learning artifacts included participant coursework and PLC discussion posts (see Table 2). Participant coursework included activities (such as video analysis and journal entries) and materials from coaching portfolios. Participants’ discussion posts within their PLC groups were also examined to understand better how course concepts were integrated into practice or conversation. Documents were archived through the online learning management system (Moodle). Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to guide inquiry by generating codes, identifying themes, and refining those themes in response to the research questions. Data analysis was ongoing and concurrent with data collection. As an inductive process, members of the research team individually analyzed two participant interview transcripts using line-by-line coding to generate initial codes, including descriptive and in vivo codes (Charmaz, 2014). Following individual analysis, the research team collectively analyzed the transcripts by comparing and condensing individual codes to create a master list. Team members then individually analyzed the remaining transcripts and collectively refined the master list based on newly emerging and salient codes, which led to the creation of 42 focused codes organized into nine categories (see Appendix 2). These categories served an organizational function to determine which codes described emerging details

3.4. Validity Our work aligns with Schwandt’s (1997) definition of validity as determined by the accuracy of representations in telling individual truths about participant experiences. To establish credibility (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), we engaged in disconfirming evidence and peer debriefing. During the process of disconfirming evidence, we examined the data to find suggestions to refute our analysis codes and categories, as well as data to disconfirm our emerging themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994). We found that the small amount of data that ran counter to our codes and categories was not prejudicial to our initial analysis, nor was it substantial enough to suggest codes and categories needed to be revisited. Furthermore, in the process of peer debriefing, several colleagues familiar with instructional coaching and adult learning reviewed our work to propose questions regarding methods and interpretations (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Most specifically, a peer review took place before data was collected, during data analysis, and after initial themes and findings were established in face-to-face (and sometimes digital) discussions.

Table 2 Learning artifacts analyzed from each of the coaching courses. Coursework Foundations Hannah: 107 pages 28,845 words Andrea: 114 pages 31,155 words Elliott: 109 pages 30,816 words Yani: 40 pages 10,703 words

PLC Discussion Posts Assessment

68 pages; 17,716 words 14 pages 9 pages 3524 words 2501 words 86 pages; 21,545 words 14 pages 16 pages 4091 words 3488 words 80 pages; 22,962 words 15 pages NA 4530 words 24 pages; 6492 words 17 pages 7 pages 4353 words 2139 words

Org.Change

Practicum

9 pages 1993 words

36 pages 9698 words

11 pages 2606 words

45 pages 11,360 words

22 pages 6070 words

43 pages 12,362 words

NA

NA

Foundations

Assessment

39 pages; 11,129 words 13 pages 12 pages 3338 words 2884 words 37 pages; 9610 words 12 pages 10 pages 3013 words 2626 words 29 pages; 7854 words 8 pages 10 pages 2028 words 2636 words 16 pages; 4211 words 8 pages 8 pages 2137 words 2074 words

Org. Change 14 pages 4907 words 15 pages 3971 words 11 pages 3190 words NA

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Table 3 Themes derived from data analysis. Theme

Sub-themes

In Search of Professional Learning

The (in)stability of coaching identities

Learning through Job-Embedded Coursework

The Role of Social Interactions

Related Categories (from code list)

Identity Perceptions of coaching role Haphazard search for opportunities Program enrollment and logistics Learning goals are intimately tied to immediate context Learning to coach Activities should respond to goals arising from immediate context Learning to coach Aligning beliefs to the coaching vision Coaching models Logistics of coaching Flexibility as applicable and accessible Coursework Sharing (1) resources (solutions) and (2) stories (validations) through social communities PLCs Creating multiple venues for engagement Online learning

To account for potential researcher bias (Maxwell, 2013) and establishing confirmability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), we engaged in researcher reflexivity. This process was especially important because of our positionality as former course instructors of the study participants. Maxwell (2013) notes, “The researcher is part of the social world he or she studies, and [cannot] avoid either influencing or being influenced by it” (p. 90). While individuals were interviewed only after completing our courses and grades had been finalized, this power and privilege may have pressured participants to answer interview questions in a particular way. Additionally, our views and perspectives on coaching and instructional design could have been communicated through course discussions, thus informing participants’ interpretations or those provided within the context of this study. To combat this, we collected artifacts produced throughout the certificate program. While these documents and discussion posts were still produced within similar parameters, they were constructed for the review of other instructors. Furthermore, reflexivity was maintained throughout data ~ a, 2012). collection and analysis through the use of memos (Saldan 4. Results and discussion The purpose of this study was twofolddto illuminate participants’ professional learning needs and to understand what elements of the coursework contributed to their professional growth. Participants sought PD to understand better their role(s) as a coach and how to communicate those responsibilities to others. The focal program addressed those needs within the context of PLCs that connected educators across international settings. While the social nature of learning was instrumental in facilitating authentic dialogue, the job-embedded nature of coursework was foundational to grounding analysis and reflection in authentic problems of practice. These findings are presented in the following sections organized by the overaching themes that emerged from data analysis. 4.1. In search of professional learning The first theme from our findings addresses our initial research question by providing insight into what coaches desire from professional learning. Our findings illustrate that coaches working across international contexts face the same resounding challenge of entering coaching roles without the necessary training to be successful. This challenge leads coaches to engage in a haphazard process of seeking out professional learning to better define and understand their role(s) as a coach. However, this search for professional learning is in some ways perpetual, as roles remain in flux as different policies and pressures constantly change the duties coaches are asked to perform (and thus the learning needed to support that work). The resulting uncertainty leaves coaches feeling uneasy about the (in)stability of the coaching roles they are asked to perform.

4.1.1. Haphazard search for opportunities As Hannah explained, in many districts the work of coaching is not seen as requiring specific or formalized training, but often takes more of a ‘trial by fire’ approach: I essentially just got hired here, and then I was like, well, I guess I’ll figure out on my own how to be a coach. I did some reading, but … I knew that it was going to be what it was, learning on the job, as I think happens for a lot of coaches now. (Interview) In need of more formalized training and independent of district guidance, Hannah partnered with her co-coach to seek out such a program, which led them to this coaching certificate. Elliott, on the other hand, recieved training in accordance with his new responsibilities. His school required him to attend a week-long intensive institute focused on a teacher-centered coaching model. The focus centered on the instruction of reading and writing workshop to enable teachers to employ pedagogical approaches as quickly as possible, which was particularly crucial within his international context. However, he remained anxious and unresolved about the power dynamics inherent within this positioning. Elliott explained that, “all the anxiety that I had felt about being under that magnifying glass [as a teacher], and all the anxiety I was now feeling like I was hoisting upon others, was right in my face” (Interview). The online certificate offered an alternative coaching model that spoke to many of the concerns he found himself contemplating. [The principal and I] were talking about Student-Centered Coaching, and the question was, do you think this still fits in with the work we want teachers to do around workshop? And is it scalable in terms of the speed within which we want teachers to implement it?. It really got me thinking about communitybuilding writ large. And I remember from the Peace Corps how slow that work went. My response was, at the end of the day, school reformeat its best eit’s going to be messy and slow. And, if we have processes that we have faith in that will increase the chances of teachers leading themselves and increase the chances of teacher leadership becoming the driving force behind the school, then that’s worth the effort. That’s worth the patience. (Interview) Still fraught with tension, he was able to initiate challenging discourse with administration around the scalability, intended goals, and outcomes relative to the different models impacting his practice. 4.1.2. Instability of coaching identities Perhaps surprisingly, the most pressing participant need was also the most basic: understanding their role. While seemingly simple to attain, clarifying and communicating the coaching

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positiondto oneself, administration, and teachers as partnersdwas often referenced as an overarching need and outcome of participating in the online coaching certificate. In many cases, the other dimensions of coaching (facilitating group work, co-teaching, etc.), rested on this basic premise. For example, Andrea sought clarity around her work as a goal and eventual outcome of the online coursework: I knew that I didn’t really have a concise definition of what coaching was. So I had hoped to learn how to define it for teachers … it was going to require a different skill set than just being a classroom teacher and enjoying experimenting with instruction … That working with adult-piece and guiding them as they prepared for their classrooms as opposed to just doing the planning myself. I was going to need some skills that I probably possessed but didn’t know how to develop. (Interview) As participants defined the parameters of their work, this process naturally evolved into establishing a vision for their coaching program. In some cases, as in the previous example of Elliott, the participant’s vision came into conflict with the district’s vision. At other times, coaches were working from scratch to build the vision as they enacted it. As Hannah, explained: This year, I gained eight new staff members, just in my division. But the advantage was they knew no different. So I was able to present the program that we always wished we had. Basically, we said this is how we do coaching here. There was no history. There was no preconceived idea. They didn’t have any of those things. Since most of them had never had a coach, we just said, this is what it looks like. And they said, okay, that’s great. (Interview) For Hannah, the ability to establish and communicate the purpose of coaching at her site was foundational to her professional learning goals. Participants also sought to organize the coaching process. Andrea described her experience entering coaching work as one beset with uncertainty. “We (herself and fellow co-coach) both came in naïve and idealistic,” believing teachers would inherently seek out coaching partnerships. This optimism was short-lived, as they realized, “that we really had no idea what we were doing. More than just wanting to support teachers in their instruction … we knew we needed a little more guidance than we had” (Interview). Like other participants, Andrea needed to define the process before she could focus on refining the practices.

4.1.3. Immediacy of contextual needs Finally, current career demands complicated participant ability to commit to the on-the-job learning they desired. Many participants found their work spread across buildings and titles. For example, Elliott wore multiple hats as a high school English teacher, literacy coach, and team leader. As an aspiring coach, Yani had recently moved to a new district as an ELL resource teacher partnering with grade-level teachers to support curricular shifts from the ground up. Like most current educators, these participants were already stretched thin and being asked to do more with less time. Therefore, the program’s online format was crucial to offer participants an accessible and manageable workload. One advantage was access to resources, instructors, and peer coaches outside of participants’ immediate physical spaces. Accessing materials from home also provided greater flexibility that enabled participants to maintain full-time positions as teachers and coaches. Multiple participants, as in this example from Yani, mentioned the

timeliness of the online work as an asset: It gives me the freedom to do things in a timeline that suits me, and I’m, by nature, more of an introvert. So being able to really reflect and think in a timely manner is helpful to me … that online communication piecedthat back and forth written piece suits me as a learner real well. (Interview) The ability to rewatch and reread material also helped some participants to internalize concepts in a way that is not always feasible in a face-to-face setting. In these ways, participants sought flexibility and choice to engage from a range of settings at a range of times. However, flexibility represented more than just choosing when to engage; participants also sought a flexible instructional design that could adapt to the emerging realities of the spaces where they worked.

4.2. Learning through job-embedded assignments The second theme describes how participants prioritized learning through job-embedded assignments as most responsive to their goals and needs. At the core, this theme demonstrates that activities connected to real-world, and often immediate, problems of practice were most instructive and constructive. The three subthemes highlight this connectedness as setting learning goals based on immediate needs, aligning beliefs to actionable visions, and being able to access and apply course content in flexible ways. These themes are interwoven in the following sections as we highlight examples most representative of the job-embedded work impactful to self-reported participant learning. While the courses included a variety of activities and modalities for meaning-making, participants identified three forms of job-embedded assignments most meaningful to their professional growth (see Table 4). It is important to note that not all instances of a given assignment provided the same degree of job-embeddedness. For our purposes, we only present those most illustrative of the related themes.

4.2.1. Discussion forums Discussion forums often included two components: (1) prompting participants to interpret key concepts from course readings to (2) make connections to their current contexts. In this way, many coaches were able to ‘talk through’ challenges raised in the literature, which resonated well with the daily challenges they faced at their sites. In this capacity, the forum served as a sounding board for problem-solving where peers provided validation to shared struggles and offered perspectives for moving forward. As an aspiring coach, Yani described the opportunity to receive input from practicing coaches as helpful to developing her understandings about coaching. “Being able to gain a little insight from them on some of their successes and things that they’ve struggled with in the coaching role was really helpful” (Interview). This PLC interaction is demonstrated in the following forum excerpt from the Assessment Analysis course. Yani: Working in the elementary setting (3rd and 4th) we do not give a lot of traditional assessments. However, currently we do not give anything other than what Serafini [(2000)] refers to as “assessment as a measurement” and most of what is taught is curriculum focused rather than student-centered. How do you help teachers (elementary with little professional development in the area) move toward using more formative assessments to guide their instruction? I would love to help them see student need as the foundation of our work in the classroom.

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Table 4 Forms of job-embedded assignments. Foundations Assessment Analysis Discussion Forums: integrated course readings, personal experiences, and authentic wonderings in online X posts. Video Analysis: observation of coaching videos followed by collaborative note-taking; utilized additional X commenting on peer notes. Coaching Portfolio: incorporated authentic coaching documents and written reflections over time; included peer feedback in the form of commenting

Rachelle: Things do take time, so I wonder how long does it take to shift. My school is PK-12, so it is also harder to get all divisions on board quickly. I would like to learn more about assessment for inquiry. We are trying to use more formative assessment practices in our school (assessment for learning), but are teachers truly using the data intentionally to move their students forward? I think we could get better at putting this into practice as well. Ellin: Yani, Are your teachers using running records at all to inform them of student reading behaviors? I realize that I ask this after having realized that in our district, the way that the running records data is reported by teachers implies that it is also an “assessment as a measurement” tool. I am hoping to be able to use the same assessment (running records) that teachers already administer, and help create the shift for them to think of it as information that they can use to facilitate learning. … Karina: Do you assist with PD in your building? Part of my role is to facilitate learning during our staff meetings. If you are able to lead sessions, maybe you can use a few formative assessment techniques and then name them by saying something like, “By the way, that was a formative assessment (name) … it allowed me to see that … It really helped me know that next we need … Try it with your students this week and let me know what you learn.” I recently did this with a reflection prompt, and I was so amazed to see that two teachers the next day had the same thing on their board. That might be one way to make the change. The other is that you just have to start with those that are ready and let it spread. With time it will. In Bulgarian we say, “Drop by drop a lake is made.” This is the case with change, too. (Week 2 Discussion Forum) In this excerpt, Yani put herself in a vulnerable position by openly expressing the challenges she faced at her site in confronting the purpose of assessments. After posing an authentic question to the group, her voice was validated by others facing similar challenges at their sites. Feedback offered both advice and additional perspectives to contemplate potential solutions. This allowed Yani to consider specific steps for her practice and broader considerations for acting as a change agent within her building. This example illustrates how discussion forums might be crafted in response to problems of practice. However, most forums were much more focused on interpreting assigned readings with limited connections to practice. Alternatively, assignments within coaching portfolios were almost always job-embedded.

4.2.2. Coaching portfolios Coaching portfolios were utilized weekly for participants to directly apply practices within their face-to-face settings followed by reflection in the online venue. Within the Practicum course, participants began by completing a self-assessment to identify central goals guiding portfolio activities. This goal-setting process contributed to ownership and accountability, as Andrea described:

X

Organizational Change

Practicum

X X

X

X

One of the pieces that I thought was really helpful in the [Practicum] was setting an intention, or goals, at the beginning of the course and then having some structured time to reflect on those at the end … I think it’s a good practice, and I wonder if integrating that within [the other course activities] can … give PLCs a tangible kind of conversation point to hold each other accountable … to say, how am I growing in relation to that goal? It seems like now I’m more aware of that setting intentions piece at the beginning of things. (Interview) In this way, portfolio activities (while already pre-determined) were guided by participant goals based on experiences at their local sites. Hannah also referenced the flexibility provided to reshape activities given local demands as valuing her voice within the learning process. The job-embedded nature of these activities was also situated within social spaces where participants could give and receive feedback from instructors and participants to inform decisionmaking at their face-to-face sites. For example, Yani referenced an experience in the Assessment Analysis course when PLC members helped her to refine the goal for her coaching cycle: I know a couple [of] times that the comments helped me to … focus my thinking a little more. I know that one part, I took language right from the rubric we were using as the assessment piece, and [my PLC member] said, ‘wow that’s a lot. You might want to think about narrowing down the topic a little more,’ which made complete sense to me. Then we went ahead and did that [at my site], and it was much more of a doable goal. (Interview) Working outside of a formal coaching role, this cycle was Yani’s first partnership in a coaching capacity. The portfolio entries allowed her to organize and document progress while receiving just-in-time feedback to guide her experience. Hannah described a similar example from the coaching portfolio used in the Practicum course: The fact that we were within each other’s coaching portfolio, commenting on work that we were all doing right at that very moment, based off of stuff we were reading was extremely helpful … I think it was just a way to see it in action, that was less … academic is not really the word I want, but really applicable to our settings. (Interview) In both of these examples, the social interaction within the professional community provided feedback applicable to the dayto-day coaching activities participants engaged in at their sites. This type of interaction transcends the type of online interactions characterized as merely obligatory engagement, as participants posed real-world problems they were motivated to resolve. Drawing on their authentic contexts, as essential to adult learning theory, served as intrinsic motivation to seek answers. The desire to share one’s professional experiences contributed as an

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intrinsic motivator to provide peer feedback. The most powerful form of such feedback, however, arose from video analysis activities that utilized personal coaching videos collected from participant sites. 4.2.3. Video analysis While participants engaged in several video analysis activities, the most meaningful were those that utilized their own recordings. As Hannah explained, The coaching lab itself was a pretty crucial part … being able to watch each other on film and see how different people coached, but then also what they noticed about our work, was really fascinating … Then, noticing things I never would’ve noticed … Just kind of being coaches for each other, for lack of a better term. (Interview) A coaching lab protocol was used to guide participants to view, analyze, and provide feedback in response to personal videos of coaching practice. As Elliott shared, “examining video of coaching and planning sessions helps quantify the kind of voice teachers have in our company; helps us measure the ‘trust, openmindedness, and validation’ development” (Coaching Belief Statements, Practicum). This statement resonates with Elliott’s written reflection on hosting a coaching lab within his PLC. In relation to the focus of the lab, I received feedback concluding that the teacher may not have been in a dialogic position and may have been looking for specific guidance from me. The notes reflect a conversation that drifts across a number of topics but that touches on the topic of safety on several occasions … Overall, having two sets of eyes on the experience helped me see how all of those dynamics contribute to the tenor of the conversation. (Assignment 5.3, Coaching Portfolio) While many coaches were interested in video-recording practice, they had not attempted it on their own. With the support of their PLC, they were able to overcome fear of vulnerability related to watching one’s self in action, something they now hoped to continue in their on-site PLC learning activities. Ultimately, the job-embedded nature of video analysis, coaching portfolios, and discussion forums fostered participants’ learning broadly (about instructional coaching) and specifically (through nuanced examinations of professional practice). Together, these experiences enabled participants to set learning goals, align actions to their beliefs, and flexibly map learning to their specific school context(s). This finding resonates with the overarching need driving participants to learn in the first placedto clarify the goals and nature of their work. Furthermore, each of these examples emphasizes the role of social interaction in fostering reflection throughout the inquiry process. Perhaps most importantly, these examples illustrate how participants valued learning activities connected to their local problems of practice, but also situated within social engagement. 4.3. The role of social interactions This final theme emerged as intimately connected to the previousdin that the most meaningful activities engaged jobembedded and social learning. Most social interaction took place through PLCs and instructor-initiated feedback. Such dialogue did not arise spontaneously within the online site, rather, the organization of PLCs helped to facilitate the process and content of social interactions. PLC activities were structured based on individual course demands and concerning the progression of courses within the certificate sequence. These activities include (but are not limited to) the job-embedded assignments discussed thus far. Consisting of 3e4 participants, PLCs were regrouped for each

course based on numerous factors, though participants could request to work with specific individuals. Two sub-themes related to social interactions address the purpose (determined by participants) and space (determined by the course design) that contributed to social meaning-making. The purpose of interactions took one of two primary forms: sharing of information (alternatively as solutions or stories) and probing inquiry into practice (asking questions to deepen reflection). These interactions were fostered across multiple assignments and spaces that allowed dialogue to flourish in more and less formal ways. Importantly, space itself did not determine the purpose of participant interactions, as individuals shared stories, offered solutions, and asked probing questions across all spaces. Andrea described the trajectory of interactions as evolving throughout the certificate program. She described how the first three courses focused more on encouraging interactions within the public community of the discussion forum, which often took the form of information seeking and giving. Andrea thought many participants responded to posts beyond their assigned PLCs, as they felt compelled to share solutions and stories. In comparison, Practicum participants engaged with PLCs in coaching portfolios focused on daily practices at their sites. In this space, Andrea felt a shift towards “more of a challenging dialogue,” where reflective questions prompted justification and alternatives more likely to impact decisions in practice (Interview). In this space, the more intimate communities helped to foster the probing nature of this dialogue. This shift in social engagement is demonstrated in the following excerpts, which also illustrate the transition towards more jobembedded assignments as the courses progressed. The following example from Organizational Change demonstrates giving and sharing information to aid sensemaking: Hannah: I was wary of this week, mostly because I was not familiar with the term sensemaking, don’t necessarily enjoy the idea of “policy,” and I struggle to grasp more abstract concepts. Therefore, it was quite fitting that I literally had to engage in the process of sensemaking through reading this week’s materials and determining how best it could apply to my own context. Essentially, with competing interests or initiatives, how does one determine who “wins” in the battle of priorities. While not necessarily a new concept, this idea only serves to reinforce the idea that alignment of goals and initiatives is critical. However, it is also extremely difficult to do, since implementation of larger initiatives (such as federal policy, or in my case, IB requirements) is subject to interpretation by individuals … Now the question for me to consider becomes, how can I be such a resource for my teachers? Talia: Hi [Hannah], I felt many of the same things while reading this week’s article. I have been listening to the Educator’s Lead Podcast and recently heard Tom Hierck’s [(2017)] episode. One of the things he spoke about was cynics in the system. He shared that we often don’t hire cynics, they are grown in our systems and likely it is due to a misalignment between their core beliefs and the beliefs of the organization or as we’ve read recently, their frame is different from that of leadership. I, like you, hear many of the same lines in my schools. It makes me wonder if we did a better job of sensegiving and time for sensemaking if the negativity would be reduced. It is something I am continuing to contemplate and will bring back to my coaching colleagues. (Week 5 Discussion Forum) In this example, Hannah can show vulnerability regarding her own insecurities and connect these ideas to her work, which is fostered by the exchange with her PLC (excerpted here). This social

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space is vital to deepening her reflection into the role of individuals working within the larger system. In comparison, the following example illustrates how social interactions impacted actual coaching practices arising at participant sites. This example is taken from Andrea’s coaching portfolio in the Practicum course. After observing a video clip of Andrea’s coaching conversation, a fellow PLC member questioned if and how Andrea might collect evidence to support the mathematical goal of her coaching cycle. Andrea responded with the following: This is a question I’m still struggling with. One of the secondary goals of this unit is to help students develop a deeper understanding of and reliance upon the design cycle. How to measure growth in this area is something that we have yet to figure out an effective method for. (Assignment 5.2.2, Coaching Portfolio) Later in her follow-up reflection, Andrea returned to this question posed by her PLC member: Bringing the conversation back to the learning targets was an area that was identified on several occasions. In response to your question, this teacher does not typically plan with learning targets in mind (nor a long sighted focus), so this practice is something that I feel strongly about continuing to encourage during our coaching cycle together … While it took several mentions of the targets throughout the conversation to finally get to a place where they directed our instructional plan, I was glad to read that the targets were identified as an anchor that kept our conversation moving forward. (Assignment 5.3, Coaching Portfolio) Here, the focus of discussion originated from the immediate concerns Andrea was addressing in her work. Furthermore, PLC interactions supported cyclical reflection across assignments, enabling more prolonged engagement on a single idea in comparison to the more limited follow-up evidenced on discussion boards. Within these examples, it is clear that social interactions fostered reflection in a variety of ways. Additionally, these findings also indicate a distinction about the relevancy and ownership of the topics at the center of social engagement.

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experiences (Yurkofsky et al., 2019). Moving forward, districts must consider their role in designing or strategically organizing such learning opportunities for coaches, not as external PD to be sought independently, but as fully integrated dimensions of professional growth according to a district’s learning mission. Ongoing research can better articulate how to design such a process according to the values and voices of individual coaches to ensure that such learning is responsive to the working realities of coaches. Findings also distinguish between initial and ongoing learning, indicating that even when coaches do receive professional preparation before entering coaching roles, the contextualized nature of coaching practices requires ongoing learning opportunities situated in authentic coaching work. In all of the stories presented, participants prioritized the need to address the coaching practices related to interpersonal dimensions of adult learning theory rather than deepening content knowledge. This preference likely results from the fact that this particular PD opportunity targeted such skills in the first place and does not diminish the importance of ongoing learning within content knowledge. However, it does substantiate the need to explicitly address these skills (Hasbrouck & Denton, 2005; Marsh et al., 2012) within situated and ongoing contexts. Furthermore, the findings illustrate that such training is most impactful when discussion and analysis of coaching practice are directly tied to participant contexts. Woulfin (2017) demonstrated the limitations of divorcing coach learning from current problems of practice, even when the topics, practices, and discourse were meaningful to participants. This study reinforces that finding while providing specific examples of how authentic problems of practice can be addressed ‘just in time’ within learning activities. It also raises the question of whether professional learning can even address coaching practices before coaches fully reflect upon and clarify their role and responsibilities within a district, as these needs were foundational to framing the goals and questions participants focused on throughout coursework. Future studies should continue to examine how these aims can be achieved in real contexts. Given the challenge of designing, facilitating, and financing such opportunities, online experiences may play an influential role in sustaining communities of practice across time and distance. 5.2. Design of online professional learning

5. Conclusion In this section, we discuss how the implications of these findings build upon and extend the research and design of educator professional development. First, we address the design of professional learning for coaches, followed by the design of online professional learning more broadly. 5.1. Design of professional learning for coaches As study participants indicated, instructional coaches are rarely trained to engage with teachers to lead school and district initiatives. These findings reinforce prior research documenting the need for districts and administrators to clearly define and provide support for coaching roles and responsibilities (Gallucci et al., 2010). In this study, coaches did not feel ’ready’ to enter the role, because they lacked the training to support the transition from teaching to coaching. However, even when an articulated coaching model was provided, as with Elliott, he still sought the need to understand and define his own beliefs and identity as a coach separate from that defined by his context. This finding reinforces the self-directed nature of adult learners (Knowles, 1984) and points to the limitations of ascribing professional goals that may undermine the individual learning needs or differential outcomes of such learning

Access to these forms of online learning opportunities will likely continue to grow as a result of the ease and flexibility offered to participants (Parsons et al., 2019). Our findings reinforce this benefit of online learning as participation often hinged on the increased accessibility afforded by the format. However, these findings also complicate how participants conceive flexibility and how it is constructed within the instructional design process. Many online courses provide ‘go at your own pace’ features structured in modular-based units adjustable to the busy schedules of practicing educators. However, our participants interpreted the most crucial dimension of flexibility not as the timeline of coursework but as the customization and adaptability to their contexts. In these cases, the direct interactions with peers and instructors helped to shape meaning, transfer learning to practice, and structure learning activities (especially within the portfolios) in individualized ways. This degree of responsiveness requires social engagement and rests on a form of online learning less likely to be duplicated in selfpaced courses that lack ongoing interactions between participants and instructors. Approaching accessibility through flexible learning design also addressed limitations of engagement within online learning communities raised by previous research (Bergviken Rensfeldt et al.,
& García, 2016). As a result of the job-embedded ac2018; Macia tivities, social interactions prompted meaningful contributions

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from all participants that blurred the lines of the online context and real-world settings in ways that enabled transfer and application in positive ways. However, this finding is also limited based on the size and characteristics of the study population. For example, coaches who found the learning design to limit participation or encroach beyond boundaries might have been unwilling to participate in the study, potentially limiting representation of this perspective. However, as research calls for more attention to individual accounts of professional learning experiences (Yurkofsky et al., 2019), this finding still offers a new perspective for conceptualizing the nature of flexibility within course design. In response, professional learning providers need to think strategically about reflecting the values of adult learning theory for their participants and how to design learning that embodies those elements in practice, regardless how they are delivered.

Appendix

Appendix 1 Research Participants. Name

Gender

Location

Content Area

Position

Lauren Rachel Jason Kayla *Janelle Dan Elliott Andrea Hannah *Anya Nora Yani Tamra *Petra

Female Female Male Female Female Male Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female

USA USA USA USA USA USA Colombia Brazil Brazil Germany USA USA Jordan USA

Math Literacy Literacy Undefined Math Math Literacy Math Literacy Math Math DLI Literacy Literacy

External Consultant Full time coach Full time coach Part time coach Full time coach External Consultant Part time coach Full time coach Full time coach Full time coach External Consultant Aspiring coach Full time coach External Consultant

*

Did not consent to interview process.

Appendix 2 Code List Category Identity

Codes

coaching identity, professional identity, solidarity with others, conflicting identities, shifting identities, informal coaching role Learning to Coach ‘on my own’, learning on the job, practical learning, learning from experience, peer-to-peer learning Perceptions of the Role perception vs. reality, teacher perceptions, administrator perceptions, informal roles Coaching Models vision of coaching, student-centered coaching, teachercentered coaching, student-focused coaching, getting students what they need Coursework responsive instruction, making work meaningful, providing flexibility, pertinent content/practices, adaptable to context, connecting to authentic purpose, allowing for differentiation, repeated and refined practice with tools Logistics of Coaching school size, coaching assignments, coaching load, school context PLCs participant roles, discourse patterns, social engagement, impact, transfer to one’s own professional work, ‘just in time’ learning, teachers as learners, seeking resources, problem solving, offering feedback, validating voice, sharing experience Online Learning affordances, constraints, contextual challenges, experience vs. perception of online learning, competency focus vs. applicability Program Enrollment reason for enrollment, prior experiences and Logistics

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