Coaching for school leaders
Coaching offers school leaders a place to think carefully about their students and the school’s response. Conversations bring together learning evidence, the school’s knowledge of its students, and experience in assessment, learning differences, and student support.
David Stevens works directly with school leaders on questions arising from their own students and circumstances. The work may involve understanding an uneven learning profile, considering the help or challenge a student needs, or examining what the school has learned from an earlier response.
Working through a question together
A working conversation begins with the question your team is considering and what you already know. We look at the relevant learning evidence alongside classroom observations, work samples, and what students and families have shared.
We examine what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what would help the school understand more. That may involve looking more closely at a student’s responses, exploring an aspect of their learning, or considering how teaching and support might develop.
Your school’s curriculum, resources, and professional judgment inform the discussion. We contribute interpretations and possible approaches for the team to consider. When a response is put into practice, agreeing what to look for and when to review it helps the school continue learning about the student.
Conversations with schools
These examples come from conversations with schools. Schools and students are unnamed.
Reviewing unexpected results
A curriculum coordinator brought a decline in ELA results across two grades. The discussion examined assessment timing and language used in questions, including a difference between the wording of an item and the terminology familiar to students.
In the same review, low geometry results concerned content the school had not yet taught. Those results subsequently rose after the content had been taught. The review considered assessment conditions and opportunities to learn when interpreting the findings.
Considering an applicant in the school’s context
An admissions team examined applicants’ results alongside those of its enrolled students. The conversation began with the current cohort and where the student support director would want a closer understanding of an applicant’s needs.
For an applicant near that point, the assessment supplied no finding that would override a favorable school visit and transcript. The evidence informed the team’s wider judgment about the student and the school’s ability to serve them.
Preparing for a board conversation
A head of school wanted to explain how students were doing. School-wide ELA and math results were strong, and the review also examined individual progress across a wide range of learning profiles.
Students receiving substantial support were among those making stronger progress. The conversation gave attention to both the school-wide picture and the progress of individual students, including those whose needs required considerable attention.
Coaching within the Student Success System
During the first-year implementation of Visibility, coaching helps leaders develop comprehensive, in-depth understanding of students’ learning and bring that understanding into the school’s work.
Once Visibility is established, the next driver’s build and implementation are specified and charged separately. The purpose and scope of coaching for that work are agreed as part of the engagement.
David Stevens, Ed.D.
David founded True Progress and developed its assessments. He brings thirty years of experience in independent K–12 education and doctoral training at Harvard with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Howard Gardner.
His work with school leaders draws on knowledge of assessment design, learning differences, and student support, together with the questions and experiences schools bring to these conversations.
Discuss coaching for your school
A first conversation with David Stevens begins with the questions your school is working through. These might involve understanding a student's persistent difficulties, reviewing whether support is helping, or guiding colleagues toward a shared understanding of a student's needs.
We will discuss what your team has learned so far and how coaching could support the decisions and work ahead.