Coaches, teachers, principals, and other school leaders from around the state gathered in State College, PA earlier this week for the High School Reform Conference sponsored by the PA Department of Education.  Ellen Eisenberg, PIIC Executive Director, Diane Hubona, Literacy Coach and IU 8 PIIC mentor and Tammy Miller, Instructional Coach, Chestnut Ridge HS attended on behalf of PIIC and facilitated a session entitled The Impact of Instructional Coaching on Effectiveness of Secondary Instruction and on High School Student Achievement.  (To see the PowerPoint presented, click here.)
 
The group presented 4 times over the two day event, gathering positive feedback along the way.  After attending the PIIC session, many participants acknowledged that “there are many advantages to coaching” and “coaches provide usable strategies to aid teachers.” (Excerpts from the session review)
 
The presentation gave a brief overview of the PIIC initiative, including its evolution from PAHSCI,  how coaching impacts teaching practices and why the instructional mentor is an integral part of the PIIC professional development model. Also shared were the four key components of the PIIC model of instructional coaching: providing one on one support to coaches and teachers; focusing on evidence-based literacy and instructional strategies; advocating non-evaluative and reflective practices; and concentrating on data collection and analysis to assess student needs.

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