2026 Art and Science of �Teacher Coaching Conference
October 5-6, 2026 | Scottsdale, AZ
“30 Ideas for Fixing U.S. Schools, Ranked by Experts”
New York Times, September 28, 2026
Two factors:
Effectiveness, as measured by state exams, and the cost of the intervention
Mervosh, S., Paris, F., & Miller, C.C. (September 28, 2026). 30 ideas for fixing U.S. schools, ranked by experts. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/upshot/ideas-fixing-schools-ranked.html
Most likely to succeed?
The idea executed well
“In practice, simply doing anything well may matter more than any handful of interventions,” said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.
“Implementation is everything.”
Coaching is the connective tissue that runs through instructional initiatives
Coaches play a crucial role in building the skills and confidence of athletes.
Coaches provide …
But what happens after the coach leaves the field?
When the coach is not on the field, what enables the team to keep improving?
When the coach is no longer in the room, what do you hope remains with the people you coach?
Identify one quality, habit, belief, or practice.
Your Turn, Coach
LEARNING INTENTION
We are learning to foster a coaching culture in our school community.
Today’s Success Criteria
The Heroic Coach and the Limits of Heroism
Teachers improve through individual coaching cycles, but without a coaching culture, the coach gradually becomes the person responsible for noticing, planning, encouraging, modeling, and following up.
What happens when one person becomes the carrier of everyone else’s improvement?
That’s a lot of weight to bear.
An instructional coach has strong relationships with teachers and conducts meaningful coaching cycles. Several teachers improve their questioning, discussion routines, and use of evidence. Yet the practices remain uneven across classrooms. Teachers rarely see one another’s work, teams spend most of their time on logistics, and the coach becomes the only person connecting the learning.
Your Turn, Coach
What is working in this scenario?
What is missing?
Where is the system dependent on the coach?
A coach can help one teacher see differently.
A coaching culture helps an entire faculty see teaching and learning differently.
The goal of coaching is not to make a school dependent on a coach.
The goal is to help create a school that knows how to learn, improve, and support one another.
Coaching is most powerful when it extends beyond something one person does and becomes how the school community works.
Fist-to-Five
Coaching Culture
Where is your site on the coaching culture continuum?
Coaching is something a designated person provides to individuals.
Coaching is how people in this organization work and learn together.
Coaching is shared among some colleagues and teams but is not a schoolwide signature practice.
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3
5
Fist = Coach? What Coach?
I can explain how instructional coaching can move from a designated role to a shared way of working.
Today’s Success Criteria
We Need a Coaching Culture in Every School
In elite athletics, coaching is expected.
In academics, coaching is tolerated.
Lessons From Professional Athletic Coaches
McCall, Wolfberg, Bilsborough, & Pruna, 2026
Before Games
During Games
Pat Summit, Tennessee
Winningest Division 1 Basketball Coach history
After Games
John Wooden, UCLA
10 Championships in 11 seasons