Circles Of Leadership

FEATURE ARTICLE

Circles Of Leadership

Oregon district redefines coaching roles to find a balance between school and district goals

As director of improvement for North Clackamas School District in Milwaukie, Ore., near Portland, my role of coaching the coach was new, and the coaches welcomed the immediate feedback. Before class started, the coach met with us to set the context and purpose. We’d observe the teacher’s minilesson and a student writing conference, then triads would practice a writing conference with a student. Students looked forward to their guest teachers practicing their teaching. This experience, called a lab site, culminated four years of redefining the roles of site-based coach, principal, and central office staff. We achieved a balance between district initiatives — the goal was to implement writing workshops — and site-based professional learning. In our district, we started by exploring literacy coaching as

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Authors

Amy D. Petti

Amy D. Petti (petti@pdx.edu) is associate professor of education in the department of educational leadership and policy at Portland State University.

North Clackamas School District

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References

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