How Steplab Supercharges Instructional Coaching

Are you a principal who is looking to develop talent, foster an open-door culture and a shared language of teaching, and raise student learning outcomes?

Are you an instructional coach who is looking to improve your ability to analyze teaching, diagnose next steps, and provide feedback and resources to teachers?

Are you a head of department, literacy specialist, or curriculum coordinator who would like to explore how coaching can enhance your role?

As a former school leader who served in many of these roles, I knew about the importance of providing teachers with quality coaching experiences. I read all the coaching books and attended all the trainings, but I often struggled to see the results I knew were possible. As I began to get involved in research-informed teaching and the science of learning, educators in my network kept telling me to check out Steplab, which was already integrating these ideas into a comprehensive PD and coaching platform for over 14,000 schools and 100,000 educators worldwide. It is not an exaggeration when I say that I became a more effective coach with Steplab.

But what is Steplab?

Action Steps

Steplab gets its name because it contains thousands of Action Steps and accompanying study modules based on research-informed teaching techniques. These are organized into five strands based on Mary Kennedy’s work on the persistent challenges teachers face and mapped against Dan Willingham’s memory model of how learning works. Action Steps provide the “What” of coaching, much like a curriculum for coaches!

Coaching Engine

Perhaps my favorite part of Steplab is the Coaching Engine, which helped me to plan and deliver effective coaching cycles with my teachers. Instead of relying on improvisation and a hodgepodge of forms, this tool helps coaches to “script” and scaffold our coaching for productive and intentional feedback sessions that concentrate on the highest leverage action steps for teachers and students.

Data Analysis Tools

Steplab helps you to stay organized with a variety of sleek data analysis tools. As hard as I tried on my own when I was coaching, I would regularly forget to circle back and “close the loop” with my coachees during coaching cycles. There was just a lot going on and too many balls in the air. With Steplab, you can see which teachers are receiving feedback, who is making progress towards their goals and action steps, and who needs more of our support.

Video Library

Even before I found Steplab, I was convinced of the power of video (e.g., Teach Like a Champion) for illustrating teaching techniques. Steplab has an extensive video library with completely authentic (i.e., not staged) videos of real teachers in high performing schools. These videos, like the Action Steps, are seamlessly integrated into feedback sessions with teachers, and are even incorporated into modules that can be assigned to teachers for asynchronous online PD. And, if you absolutely love Teach Like a Champion content, it’s now available on Steplab as well!

There is a lot more to Steplab than this, so I encourage you to attend our November 25, 2024 webinar to see it for yourself. As a platform that is built by coaches, for coaches, it is unlike anything I have ever seen. Now, as the Director of Steplab North America, I invite you to register for this webinar so that you may learn about Steplab and North America-specific opportunities to supercharge instructional coaching at your school.