WDMCS Instructional Coaches Nurture Great Performances (Blog)

When Western Hills teacher Leslie Welter was looking for a different way to teach math in her first grade classroom, she decided to get a coach.

She wasn’t looking for someone to explain baseball statistics, she wanted an instructional coach.

Luckily for Welter, the West Des Moines Community Schools (WDMCS) had just started a pilot project to offer coaching services in her school.

Three instructional coaches are working in three WDMCS elementary school buildings: Clive, Crestview and Western Hills. These schools were chosen for the pilot based on the diversity of their student population and the principals’ interest in the project.

Similar to a vocal coach helping a singer with his technique, instructional coaches help teachers build skills and expertise in instruction. “Research shows that the greatest impact on student learning is the classroom teacher. When we raise the quality of the classroom teacher, we raise the impact on student achievement,” said Annie Orsini, who worked as a classroom teacher in the district before becoming an instructional coach at Crestview. “In the end, this means helping every child in the classroom achieve even more.”

Click here to learn more about how the WDMCS instructional coaches are assisting teachers in refining their practice and helping in the work to improve student learning.