Level 1 initial steps: address teacher beliefs through individual conferencing and establish teacher learning communities

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 theoretical), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

At the first level of the trajectory, mentoring work consists of conversations with individual teachers about literacy instruction and relationship building, described as "building relationships and establishing a level of trust necessary to engage teachers in the change process." Advocacy work involves facilitating small-group conversations to gauge willingness to collaborate and brainstorm mutual support. Examples include Michelle's brief planning-time conferences and Grace's after-school writing discussion meeting using student work samples.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Coaches establish trust with individual teachers before engaging them in change work
• Small-group meetings gauge teacher willingness to collaborate

Constraints

Target Learners

• middle school teachers
• middle school literacy coaches

Target Goals

• open teachers to the change process
• build collaborative norms among teachers

Claims

• The complexity of coaching responsibilities may fragment the coaching process and reduce its impact [+W]
• Literacy coaching responsibilities fall into two major areas: teacher mentoring and literacy program advocacy [+W]

Related Patterns

• Level 2 necessary supports: guide implementation of new instructional skills and facilitate learning community dialogue

Examples

• Use the coaching framework as a structured discussion guide with a note-taking grid and study group questions

Key Sources

• Smith, A. T. (2009). Considering Literacy Coaching Responsibilities in Terms of Teacher Change. University of Washington Bothell. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED530353

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	coaching-level-1-initial-steps-beliefs-and-community-establishment
title	Level 1 initial steps: address teacher beliefs through individual conferencing and establish teacher learning communities
description	At the first level of the trajectory, mentoring work consists of conversations with individual teachers about literacy instruction and relationship building, described as "building relationships and establishing a lev...
status	review
generated	by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-09-27
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — smith-2009

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