Strengthening Staff Development
Through Peer Coaching

Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
Doylestown, PA
Ms. Elizabeth Barry, Principal
Mrs. Alice Graziano, Honors Math Teacher

Slide 2 - School Facts

•	elementary school of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
•	400 students in Kindergarten through Grade Eight
•	suburb of Philadelphia, PA
•	professional staff of 33; support staff of 11
•	auxiliary staff of 4; federal and state programs
•	Terra Nova (The Second Edition) administered in Grades Two, Three, Four, Six and Eight     

Slide 3 - Definition
Peer Coaching

•	is a professional dialogue
•	happens when teachers learn from and affirm    one another
•	has two common elements: insight and encouragement

Slide 4 - Purpose
Peer Coaching is built on collegial relationships
in which

•	adults talk about practice
•	adults observe each other
•	adults engage in work on curriculum
•	adults teach each other

Slide 5 - Synergy
Peer Coaching

•	celebrates the spirit of creativity, imagining, and intellectual networking
•	stresses interdependence
•	uses the paradigm of “we”

Slide 6 - Process
Peer Coaching is a process which includes

•	co-planning
•	co-implementation 
•	co-evaluation

Slide 7 - Principles of Effective Conferencing
Peer Coaching emphasizes

•	use of a common language
•	use of a specific focus
•	hard evidence
•	reciprocity

Slide 8 – Examples of our Work
Picture displays a peer coaching situation.

Slide 9 - Advantages
Peer Coaching

•	energizes and sustains school improvement
•	empowers innovation
•	transforms decision making
•	supports adult learning

Slide 10 - Supportive Research
Peer Coaching incorporates

•	Gregorc’s Stages of Teacher Development
    (Gregorc, A.)
•	adult learning styles
•	concepts affirmed in “Start Here for Improving        
    Teaching and Learning” (Schmoker, M.)
•	characteristics of adult learning communities

Slide 11 - Faculty Reflections
•	“Peer coaching has enabled me to work with other teachers to make better choices about instruction, curriculum and assessment. It has been helpful in eliminating the isolation that one often feels as a teacher.”                           Carolyn Kerns, Grade One Teacher

•	“Peer coaching provided me with a forum in which I could plan effective teaching strategies, and learn how well my teaching goals were being met.”               Dawn Brooks, Grade Four Teacher

•	“I would recommend peer coaching as an extraordinarily successful means to strengthen collegiality.”   Cindy Harris, P.E. Teacher

Slide 12 - Summary Points
Key Learnings
•	commitment to collegiality to introduce and sustain program
•	formal record keeping and reflection to institutionalize  program

Ongoing Challenges
•	inclusion of teachers new to the faculty
•	adoption of focus that includes all teachers  
•	investment of adequate professional time