Diagnosing and Setting Coaching Action Steps

One of the trickiest parts of instructional coaching is diagnosis. It requires deep funds of knowledge by the coach around effective teaching and learning to select the next high leverage “step” for the teacher to work on.

Some coaching approaches attempt to solve this problem by abdicating the responsibility of identifying the step to the teacher. This isn’t very responsive. What if the teacher is unaware of the problem? What if the teacher knows it’s a problem but doesn’t know what to do about it? If we’re reflective, we can acknowledge that both of these scenarios are entirely likely, since if the teacher had known what to do and how to do it, they might have done it in the first place.

Another common problem is that the suggestions many coaches give teachers are not “steps” at all; they are too vague, too broad, and too long-term. Advice such as “build better relationships with students,” “familiarize yourself with your curriculum materials,” or “work on your questioning” are valid goals, but they lack the granularity needed for immediate implementation in tomorrow’s lesson. Providing teachers with broad goals or an overwhelming number of steps often results in minimal progress. Effective coaching requires specific, actionable steps that can be named, practiced, and observed.

Steplab is a platform that employs an approach called Responsive Coaching. This method involves carefully planned questioning to identify specific and concrete action steps in collaboration with teachers. The “steps” that give Steplab its name are part of a comprehensive library of evidence-informed techniques that are observable and replicable. These steps are supported by video models, bite-sized study modules, and short cycles of observation and feedback to ensure effective dissemination and implementation.

I encourage you to watch the webinar recording above of how to set action steps with teachers, and to consider joining our community of Steplabbers in North America. We will help you to become the best school and instructional coach you can be. Use the button below to request a demo or a quote and join over 14,000 schools worldwide that use Steplab.