Coaching is a change from traditional roles and plays a vital component in supporting teachers to feel capable and successful throughout the ongoing process of implementation and revision of evidence-based practices. The follow-up sessions to the Visually Speaking TOT event will provide ongoing support to leaders coaching teachers as they build and sustain quality programs for individuals with special needs.
The primary role of the coach is to ask questions that are open-ended and promote cognition. Listening, probing for deeper meaning, and being non-judgmental are essential components. The Rubric of Effective Practices for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities will be used as a framework to strategically guide coaches to ask just the right questions at just the right time.
More than ever, teachers need to be supported and valued so that they can help their students achieve their full potential—academically, socially, and behaviorally.