Pennsylvania Institute for Instructional Coaching — A Partnership Between the Annenberg Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Education
Transition to PIIC PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 28 August 2007 07:22

The Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative transitions into a statewide system that supports instructional coaching and mentoring.

For over three years, PAHSCI has demonstrated that one-on-one instructional coaching can lead to significant changes in classroom instruction and student engagement and can contribute to considerable increases in pupil achievement, including scores on standardized tests. The content and processes piloted through PAHSCI have become the foundation of a statewide system of training and support for instructional coaches and instructional mentors.

In a statewide effort designed to develop and support high quality instructional coaching, ongoing mentoring, and sustained professional development, the Annenberg Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Education have partnered and established the Pennsylvania Institute for Instructional Coaching (PIIC). PIIC’s mission is to provide a vehicle for the uniform and consistent delivery of professional development and sustained support to all teachers, coaches, mentors, and administrators through instructional coaching and mentoring.

Over a seven-year period, PIIC will develop a wide range of instructional coaching and mentoring strategies for coaches and their mentors. Through implementation of consistent statewide approaches to selection, training, support and assessment, ongoing professional development is offered through an intermediate-unit (IU) based mentoring system. Each participating IU will have one full-time IU based mentor who will provide professional development and instructional coaching support to districts within their IU. Mentors work with instructional coaches already identified in the IU and assist in the enrollment of districts interested in implementing an instructional coaching model.

PIIC’s immediate objectives are to:

  • implement a basic professional development program of uniform, high-quality initial training for coaches in schools;
  • provide support for coaches with an IU based mentoring program;
  • enhance the mentors’ skills through ongoing professional development;
  • support PDE’s standards aligned systems;
  • engage additional partners needed to build a sustainable system; and
  • generate additional resources to support growth and expansion of the Institute.


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