The Problem: We Collect Coaching Data but Don’t Analyze the Big Picture
Most schools collect coaching data. Coaches track meetings. They log skills. They run cycles. But almost no one stops long enough to ask one important question: What patterns are showing up?
If your coaches keep working on the same skills with the same teachers, your coaching program is not the problem. Your system is.
What We Noticed: A Cohort Pattern Example
In a recent virtual meeting with a cohort of instructional coaches from multiple districts, our team asked them to step back and analyze one month of their data using just a few reflection prompts. Within ten minutes, every coach saw the same thing.
They were all coaching classroom management. The same skills. The same teachers. The same cycles. That was the moment we realized this wasn’t a coaching problem. It was a system problem.
Here are some other patterns that appeared:
- Coaches were repeatedly working in Priority Skills*
- Classroom management was the most frequently coached indicator
- New skills would be started but weren’t sticking. Many teachers were staying at the same skill level in their cycles.
At first glance, these looked like a lot of individual teacher needs, but when the pattern appeared across multiple schools, it signaled something bigger was going on.
The Deeper Diagnosis: A System Problem, Not a Coaching Problem
In our conversations, we shifted the lens from individuals to systems and began to look at some possible causes behind the data:
- Lack of school‑wide classroom routines
- Inconsistent expectations across classrooms
- Limited principal reinforcement
- Initiative overload getting in the way of basics
There were other common aspects in the data too important to ignore. Coaches are supporting new teachers who enter the profession from multiple pathways. All teachers are faced with new student behaviors, new curriculum, new initiatives. This means that Priority Skill coaching is vital, but without system support, foundational practices never become “normal.” Coaches end up trying to convince teachers to do things that should already be routine practice. That is a system failure, not a coaching failure.
The Solution: Analyze, Then Act
Here are the most effective steps we have found to identify and address the data needs at a larger scale:
Step 0: Stop and Look
Most coaching data sits in spreadsheets that no one studies. If no one looks for patterns, nothing changes.
Step 1: Analyze coaching data trends
- What skills are being repeatedly coached?
- What skills are being coached with little to no transfer?
- Which teachers are repeating the same coaching cycles?
Step 2: Diagnose system issues
- What school structures are missing?
- Where are expectations inconsistent?
- What structures, if implemented across the school, would improve classroom instruction data?
Step 3: Take school-wide action
- Define non‑negotiable routines
- Determine walkthrough expectations
- Model practices in staff professional development
- Embed into onboarding for new teachers
What Pattern Analysis Looks Like in Action
Step 0 | The leadership team stops and looks at the big picture in the coaching data. |
Step 1 | 70% of teachers in coaching cycles were receiving support for Classroom Management, |
Step 2 | Coaching notes showed the same issue again and again. The first 10 minutes of class were chaotic. Students entered slowly. Attendance dragged on. Objectives were unclear. Instructional time was being lost. |
Step 3 | Coaches and principals used collaborative planning time to co-design a school-wide entry routine with teachers. The goal: launch instruction within 6 minutes. |
Notice what didn’t happen. Coaches did not start more cycles. They addressed the system. Imagine if they kept coaching classroom management to one teacher at a time.
Why This Matters: Coaching for Impact
Repeating coaching cycles on the basics drains two precious resources: time and energy. Coaching works best when it is not fighting the system. If coaches are stuck teaching the basics over and over, the problem is bigger than coaching. The patterns are already there in the data. Ignore them, and coaching stays stuck. Fix the system, and coaching accelerates.
