Lead Coach

CPS Lead Coach Understanding & Descriptions

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has set ambitious goals to ensure that every child-in every school and every

neighborhood-has access to a world-class learning experience from birth, resulting in graduation from high school

college- and career-ready. Impacting the instructional core is one of the top educational priorities for CPS, through

continuous improvement cycles of learning.

The School-Based Lead Coach will support schools in impacting the instructional core through instructional development,

change management, and school-level continuous improvement to drive success for all students. The Lead Coach will

plan and take the steps necessary to continually improve and expand the instructional core within their assigned school,

thereby enriching the lives of more students in Chicago Public Schools.

This guide is meant to support school leaders in defining the new Instructional coaching roles in their buildings, as well as

how to set expectations and align support.

Role Definitions (as described in this Guide)

School Leader School principal and/or assistant principal

Lead Coach Released teacher leader who provides professional learning and coaching supports

to teachers and supports the school leader to build teacher leaders' capacity

Teacher Leader Team Leads who serve as teacher leaders for their respective teams and serve on the ILT

School-Based Lead Coach Roles & Responsibilities

● Under the direction and guidance of the Office of Teaching and Learning and Office of Network Support, as well as

the school-based principal, implement a strategic action plan and continuous improvement strategies founded in

the CPS Framework for Teaching to positively impact student-based outcomes in their assigned school by working

with classroom teachers, school-based Instructional Leadership Teams, school administrators, and professional

development providers.

● Build the day-to-day instructional capacity of classroom teachers and school administrators at their assigned school

to deliver district instructional core priorities. These priorities currently include:

o Students have access to a high-quality curriculum across all content areas that is grade-level appropriate

and standards-aligned, meaningful, and responsive to their communities and identities.

o Schools implement a balanced assessment system that includes universal screening and benchmark

assessments as well as curriculum-embedded assessments designed to inform instructional

decision-making.

o Teachers facilitate instruction that honors students' identities, prioritizes relationships, and fosters

community to facilitate deep engagement.

o Students are supported in engaging with and meeting grade-level standards through strategic

acceleration practices that recognize their strengths and build on those through just-in-time support.

o Students access tiered academic and social-emotional interventions to supplement core instruction

when needed to facilitate their success with grade-level standards.

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● Provide differentiated instructional support by working directly with teachers in the classroom to model effective,

research-based instructional practices; work collaboratively with grade-level teams to drive data-informed

instructional planning, by regularly providing professional learning and coaching to staff as needed, and by working

with school-based leadership teams to actualize the district priorities school-wide

● The lead coach must lead a team (or teams) of teachers in enacting the instructional core; this can include, but is

not limited to: planning and facilitating grade-level meetings, providing lesson plan feedback, data and/or

student-work analysis, leading instructional core walks

● The Lead Coach must also serve on the school-based The Instructional Leadership Team, and the CIWP Team to

integrate the instructional core throughout the school and core curriculum. As such, the Lead Coach should consult

and collaborate with Principals, Assistant Principals, and other members of the school-based Instructional

Leadership Teams, and District staff as needed to develop data-informed strategies to support the development and

implementation of the CIWP. These strategies include (but are not limited to): curriculum development, professional

development plans, direct support to classroom teachers, student outcome progress monitoring, and student

intervention plans.

● Build the leadership capacity of other Teacher Leaders by providing coaching and learning around leadership skills;

build the teacher leaders' capacity to lead teams and coach in the following years (with your and the school leader's

support). This support should be grounded in the teacher leader competencies and tool-kits which include (but are

not limited to): Meta-coaching, Model-coaching, co-data team facilitation, and co-adulting learning facilitation.

Commitments

School and School Leader ● Assign and release lead coaches to participate in bi-weekly district-sponsored

professional development (PD) to promote the scaling of high-quality

instructional practices school-wide

● Support the learning arc of developing teachers by allowing time for safe practice

of new instructional strategies or methodologies

● Leverage the Lead Coach to ensure that learning from PD takes root in the

classrooms of teachers attending the sessions

● Protect and preserve teacher meeting time for coaching and development

sessions with the Lead Coach

● Establish a cadence of check-ins with Lead Coach to discuss implementation

progress on the district priorities and other school-wide goals

● Provide protected teacher-leader capacity time: meeting time for coaching and

development sessions with the Lead Coach to teacher leaders

Lead Coach Services to School:

● Establish a regular cadence of meetings for assigned grade level teams

● Establish a regular coaching cycle and develop a coaching and support plan for all

assigned teachers

● Support the development and execution of the school-based CIWP

● Regularly report progress toward school goals to school leadership via scheduled

check-ins

● Develop and facilitate professional learning experiences for school-based

teachers

● Teacher leader growth & Support:

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○ Develop and facilitate professional learning experiences for school-based

teachers

○ Provide a regular cadence of release time for Teacher Leaders to lead a

team of teachers

Professional Growth and Learning:

● New-to-role Lead Coaching onboarding (summer through the school year)

● Pre-service role-specific leadership training; sessions typically offered in the

summer

● Attend all bi-weekly district-sponsored professional learning about coaching best

practices

● Differentiated 1:1 2x per month coaching by school leader including but not

limited to consulting, co-planning, modeling on leadership Central Office

● Provide orientation session for principals on lead coach role, expectations, and supports

● Provide pre-service orientation and onboarding for new-to-role lead coaches

● Provide differentiated, 2x per month professional learning for lead coaches on

leadership cultures, structures, and knowledge and skills

Additional Information

To ensure that Lead Coaches are able to meet the full set of responsibilities above:

● Lead Coaches should not be assigned to teaching or intervention responsibilities that are greater than 20% of

their day.

● Lead Coaches should not be regularly used to provide classroom substitute coverage except in extenuating

circumstances or to release another teacher to observe instruction in another classroom

● Lead Coaches should not be regularly assigned to office responsibilities during the school day.

● Lead Coaches should not be used to coordinate school-wide assessments.

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