In this final phase, the coach and teacher reflect on the instruction from the Engage part of the cycle by analyzing student learning data alongside the coaching goal. It will be important to provide time for this kind of partnered metacognition because it enables teachers to think deeply about their practice and the resulting impact on student learning. An important outcome of this meeting will include the teacher and coach having determined their next steps for instruction and preparing to re-enter the Plan part of the cycle once again. When working the refection portion, an NPS instructional coach should consider:
- The coach and teacher review the instruction from the Engage part of the cycle.
- The coach and teacher review student progress by looking at the data alongside
the coaching goal.
- The coach and teacher consider next steps. This can include:
- trying out the same instructional practice because the students and the
teacher need to keep practicing it.
- changing course because the instructional practice needs tweaking to
more effectively impact student learning.
- changing the actual goal because it was mastered and the teacher needs
to move on to a more advanced goal, or because more scaffolding is
needed to build the pedagogical capacity of the teacher
- The coach and teacher plan their next steps and set up a planning meeting to
begin the coaching cycle again with the Prepare phase.