“Using protocols transforms meetings into structured, purposeful conversations where everyone has a voice.”
— Daniel R. Venables, author of “The Practice of Authentic PLCs: A Guide to Effective Teacher Teams”
Have you ever left an instructional coaching session feeling like more could have been accomplished or struggled to keep a team discussion on track? If so, you’re not alone. Many instructional coaches face these challenges, but there’s a solution that can transform your practice and provide much-needed support: protocols.
Protocols provide a clear framework for guiding conversations, analyzing data and fostering professional growth. Let’s demystify the concept of protocols and learn what they are and why they matter. Then, we’ll dive into how to offer strategies for successful implementation and share specific protocols you can use today to enhance your coaching effectiveness.
What are protocols, and why should instructional coaches use them?
A protocol is a structured set of guidelines or procedures that guide discussions, observations and actions within a specific context. In educational settings, protocols facilitate professional development, improve instructional practices and enhance educator collaboration. They provide a clear interaction framework, ensuring that conversations and activities are purposeful, focused and productive.
Many fields use protocols regularly to ensure consistency and safety. In health care, surgical steps and CPR protocols guide medical procedures and emergency responses. In business, protocols structure meetings and project management processes, making them productive and efficient. In the legal and government sectors, protocols dictate court procedures and guide government operations, ensuring fairness, consistency and policy implementation.
While coaching is never fully scripted or results in a one-size-fits-all solution, instructional coaches can benefit from adding protocols to their coaching toolbox. Protocols provide structure and clarity, ensuring that meetings, observations and discussions are focused and efficient. Protocols also foster consistency across different situations, helping maintain alignment with specific goals and ensuring everyone’s voice is heard and valued.
By facilitating reflective practice, critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving, protocols support professional growth and development, making them essential tools for instructional coaches.
How to implement protocols successfully
To implement protocols successfully, instructional coaches should understand and communicate the purpose, ensuring correct application and desired outcomes. Choosing a suitable protocol is crucial, as it addresses specific needs by matching it to the situation and participants.
Prepare thoroughly by gathering materials and reviewing steps to avoid confusion. Train participants by providing an overview and answering questions. Facilitate with fidelity, closely following guidelines to maintain consistency and effectiveness. Encourage active participation by creating an inclusive environment and ensuring all voices are heard.
Reflect and debrief after the protocol to identify strengths and areas for improvement and document outcomes to ensure accountability and follow-through. Finally, follow up to monitor progress, provide support and make necessary adjustments.
What are typical problems from poorly implemented protocols?
If instructional coaches implement protocols too loosely, skip steps or implement a protocol poorly, various issues arise. Participants can become confused and disengaged if the coach fails to clarify the purpose. Inadequate coach preparation results in missing materials, leading to delays and frustration.
Poor facilitation by the coach allows discussions to go off-track, missing objectives. If the coach does not encourage everyone’s participation, the protocol’s benefits are diminished, leading to unbalanced decisions. Skipping reflection or debriefing prevents learning, causing repeated mistakes.
And if a coach provides poor documentation, it results in a lack of accountability and forgotten action steps. Finally, without follow-up, the coach fails to ensure implementation, reducing sustained impact and missing opportunities for improvement.
Specific resources and protocols to use immediately
For instructional coaches seeking to deepen their practice and improve their effectiveness, a wealth of resources is available to explore various adaptable protocols. Websites like the National School Reform Faculty, School Reform Initiative and Center for Leadership & Educational Equity offer extensive, free libraries of protocols specifically designed for educational settings. Some examples on these websites of the 200-plus protocols available from these three sources include the ATLAS Learning from Student Work protocol, ATLAS Looking at Data protocol, A Change in Practice protocol, Consensus-Based Decision-Making Process protocol, Data-Driven Dialogue protocol, Data Mining protocol, Examining Assessment protocol, Final Word protocol and a Reflective Conversation protocol.
While prepared protocols are a great way to build your instructional coaching toolbox, you can also create or adapt your own. CLEE has a Reflections on Adapting/Creating Protocols document that is helpful if you decide to do so.
The Harvard University Center for Education Policy Research shares 7 Coaching Conversation protocols and 10 Feedback Models protocols. Examples include The First Coaching Conversation script, a Giving Effective Feedback Conversation script and a Post-Observation Conference protocol. Video is also recommended in several of these protocols, and my SmartBrief article “Video for professional development accelerates teacher growth and student learning” provides more information about using video.
You can also expand using protocols to larger groups in a professional learning format. Here are two articles in which I worked with others to develop a protocol for larger professional learning formats: “The Solution Is in the Room” and “Solution Summit Harnesses Teacher Knowledge and Expertise.”
Additionally, books such as “The Power of Protocols” by Joseph McDonald and “Protocols for Professional Learning” by Lois Brown Easton provide valuable insights and step-by-step guides. By leveraging these resources, coaches can find protocols tailored to their needs, ensuring structured, productive, and impactful coaching sessions.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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