Over the past 30 years, my colleagues and I at the Instructional Coaching Group and the University of Kansas have studied what makes instructional coaching work. That research has produced a range of tools and frameworks—video-based reflection, PEERS goals, implementation checklists, instructional playbooks, and the Impact Cycle—that have helped refine how professional learning happens in schools.
One consistent finding we’ve seen is that coaching, done well, has a meaningful, positive effect on students (Knight et al., 2018). But effective coaching requires sustained time and effort—and that’s a resource many leaders and coaches simply don’t have enough of. This creates a practical challenge: What does good coaching look like when time is limited?
That question has driven our work over the past year. Through a series of informal experiments, we’ve been exploring a shortened approach to coaching built around four strategic conversations. We want to be clear that this is preliminary work, and we are not claiming that four conversations will replicate the results of six to eight weeks of intensive coaching. But when time is the constraint, coaches and leaders still need a strategy that works. We’ve been calling this approach fast-track instructional coaching.
What Our Research Tells Us
Before we turn to the four conversations, we need to define exactly what an instructional coach does. Instructional coaches “partner with teachers to analyze current reality, set goals, identify and explain teaching strategies to meet goals, and provide support until the goals are met” (Knight, 2018). We can better understand the scope of this role by reviewing seven findings from our research.
Finding 1: Professional learning requires respecting educators as professionals.
The terms professional development and professional learning are common in schools, but they often describe activities that treat teachers more like unskilled laborers than professionals. If we want to have the schools our students deserve, we need professional teachers. That begins by recognizing teachers as professionals.
We define professionals as people who use their expertise and judgment with discretion, applying what they know to meet the needs of the people they serve, guided by shared professional standards (Freidson, 2001). To support professionalism, leaders and coaches should act as partners with teachers and respect their ability to decide how best to meet the needs of individual students. We call this the partnership approach. In a controlled study, professional development grounded in partnership was 4.5 times more likely to be chosen for implementation than professional development delivered through a “telling” approach (Knight, 1999).
Finding 2: Start with kids.
Coaching expert Diane Sweeney (2011) has advocated for student-focused coaching for much of her career. Our own research confirms that student-focused goals are essential. When teachers and coaches meet, the central question should not be, “What teaching strategy are we going to focus on?” but rather, “What do my students need?”
Student-focused goals provide a clear, objective standard for effective implementation that is much more powerful than check marks on a checklist. When coaches start with students and teachers drive the conversation, the resulting strategies will be student-focused. And when teachers see their students succeed, they’re more likely to keep using the strategies.
When teachers and coaches meet, the central question should not be, “What teaching strategy are we going to focus on?” but rather, “What do my students need?”
Finding 3: Most people don’t have a clear picture of reality.
People are often surprised when they watch a video of themselves teaching. Our view of reality is obscured by perceptual errors (Halvorson, 2015), defense mechanisms (Vedantam & Mesler, 2021), and our rigid desire for certainty (Jackson, 2023).
A clearer picture of reality matters for two reasons. First, without it, we may choose goals that don’t address student needs. Second, motivation for change comes from noticing the gap between where we are and where we want to be (Miller & Rollnick, 2023). When that awareness is missing, motivation often is, too.
Finding 4: Coaching involves setting and reaching powerful goals.
As coaching expert John Campbell once told me, “If there’s no goal, it’s just a nice conversation.” Research shows that goals are much more motivating when people choose them for themselves (Boyatzis, 2024). Effective goals matter to teachers when they address their most pressing concerns and answer two questions: “Is it worth it?” and “Can I do it?”
Coaches support teachers by creating conditions that empower them to set goals they care about, ones that can have a clear, positive effect on student engagement, achievement, or well-being. We suggest partnering with teachers to set PEERS goals (powerful, easy as possible, emotionally compelling, reachable, and student-focused), a topic we’ll touch on later.
Finding 5: Coaches need expertise, but they shouldn’t act like experts.
Sometimes teachers clearly understand their goals and how to reach them. Other times they seek coaching because they’ve run out of options. Effective coaches recognize when teachers have the knowledge they need to address issues in the classroom and when teachers could benefit from hearing about classroom data or high-impact teaching strategies. When teachers know what they want to do, sharing knowledge can get in the way of thinking, but when teachers don’t know what to do, sharing knowledge can be a lifeline.
To support teachers in this way, instructional coaches, at a minimum, should know how to gather classroom data for assessing engagement and achievement. When coaches understand behavioral, cognitive, and emotional data, they can help teachers clarify reality, set goals, and monitor progress. Additionally, instructional coaches should have a deep understanding of high-impact teaching strategies that they can share with teachers to help them meet their goals. When coaches understand how to choose valid assessments for different kinds and levels of learning, and what strategies teachers can use to meet their goals, they can provide meaningful support.
Finding 6: Coaching requires specific coaching skills.
As coaching expert Christian van Nieuwerburgh has explained (2026), at least four skills are essential. Effective coaches listen deeply so they can serve as thinking partners. They ask questions that expand awareness, support goal setting, and guide planning. They notice nonverbal communication. Finally, they play back what they’ve heard by paraphrasing and summarizing.
Finding 7: Coaching involves freedom within form.
Coaching is a structured conversation guided by the Impact Cycle (see fig. 1), but it also leaves room for teachers and coaches to adapt goals and plans. Success depends on partnering with teachers to experiment and adjust based on evidence of progress or lack thereof. When progress slows, teachers can adjust their goals, measures, or the strategies they’re using. By doing so, they can make real, positive improvements in what happens in their classrooms.
The Four Conversations of Fast-Track Instructional Coaching
As mentioned, the structure for instructional coaching that my team has designed is the Impact Cycle. The cycle has three stages: identify, learn, and improve. During the identify stage, the coach and teacher partner so the teacher can clarify reality, set a goal, and select a strategy. During the learn stage, the coach supports implementation by explaining the teaching strategy in question and modeling it in a variety of ways. During the improve stage, the coach and teacher modify implementation so students can reach the goal.
Fast-track coaching distills the essential elements of the Impact Cycle into four conversations that should each take under an hour.
Conversation 1: Contracting
During the contracting conversation, the coach and teacher clarify what the next three coaching conversations will look like. This is especially important when leaders serve as coaches because teachers may hesitate to open up to someone who evaluates them. Together, the coach and teacher address practical issues, such as meeting times, as well as more complex topics, such as the role the coach will play. The coach also explains that a coaching conversation might feel different from a normal conversation, with its long pauses and repeated questions. At the end of the contracting conversation, the coach and teacher discuss the importance of gaining a clearer picture of the classroom reality. In fast-track coaching, teachers do this by video-recording a lesson they have taught and reviewing it before the next meeting. Teachers get more out of watching their video when they use reflection tools that help them focus their observation on what they and their students are doing during the lesson.
The Contracting Conversation
- Confirm meeting times.
- Clarify roles.
- Explain the three stages of the Impact Cycle.
- Discuss the dialogical approach.
- Discuss when the coach might take notes.
- Discuss what a coaching conversation might feel like.
- Discuss learning and psychological safety.
- Invite questions from the collaborating teacher.
- Confirm how and when the teacher will gain a clearer picture of reality.
Conversation 2: Identifying the Goal
During the identify conversation, the coach asks questions that invite the teacher to identify three issues: where students are now, where the teacher wants them to be, and how the teacher will help them get there. This conversation almost always follows the teacher’s review of one of their video-recorded lessons.
We have found that teacher-set goals are more effective when they have five characteristics, which are captured by the acronym PEERS. Effective goals are powerful because they will have an unmistakably positive effect on children’s lives. They are as easy as possible, although no powerful goal will likely be easy; the coach and the teacher should find the most doable path to the goal. They are emotionally compelling for the teacher because not much will happen unless the teacher really cares about the goal. They are reachable, meaning that the teacher should be able to clearly describe success and identify strategies to meet it. Finally, effective goals are student-focused, emphasizing changes in student engagement or achievement.
To support teachers in identifying PEERS goals, coaches can ask them a series of questions focused on where they are now, where they want to be, and how they will get there.
The Identify Questions
Where are you now?
- What would your classroom look like if it were exactly how you would like it to be?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how close is this lesson to your ideal?
- Why did you choose that number?
Where do you want to go?
- What would you need to change in the lesson to make it closer to a 10?
- What would you see your students doing differently? Describe what that would look like.
- Do you want that to be your goal?
- If you could reach that goal, would it really matter to you?
- How could we measure that?
How will you get there?
- You probably have thought a lot about this. What do you think you might do?
- How have you handled this kind of situation in the past?
- What advice would you give another teacher in your situation?
- Would you like some suggestions?
- Which option gives you the most confidence or energy?
- What’s your next step?
Motivation for change comes from noticing the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
Conversation 3: Learning
During the learn conversation, the coach ensures that the teacher is ready to implement the new teaching strategy by providing the teacher with a model of what the teaching practice looks like and by reviewing a checklist for the strategy. With the help of AI, coaches can find already-existing videos of teachers implementing a given practice effectively so teachers can see it before they try it themselves. Coaches who share videos often do so right after the identify conversation.
Coaches also explain strategies. We have found that explanations are most effective when coaches take a dialogical approach. Using a checklist, coaches review each component of a strategy and ask teachers if they want to use it as described or if they would prefer to adapt it for their students.
Dialogical explanation is one of an instructional coach’s most nuanced skills. Coaches must clearly describe the elements of a strategy while ensuring teachers feel free to share their thinking about how they might adapt it. Coaches should make it clear that they welcome the teacher’s ideas. They should also speak up if they believe a proposed change will reduce the strategy’s effectiveness. The challenge is to share expertise while making it clear that it’s up to the teacher to decide how they will teach the strategy.
The standard of excellence is an improvement in the students, not checklist compliance. Once a teacher sets a student-focused goal, that goal becomes a measure of effective implementation.
Dialogical Explanations
- Explain the purpose of the conversation.
- Provide a brief overview of the strategy.
- Invite the teacher to ask questions.
- Review each item on the checklist.
- Ask whether the explanation is clear.
- Ask the teacher if they want to make any adaptations.
- If you have concerns, share your thoughts while positioning the teacher as the decision maker.
- Sum up the strategy.
- Ask, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you that you can implement this practice?”
- If confidence is low, discuss options until the teacher is ready to implement.
Conversation 4: Improving
The improve conversation typically occurs one to three weeks after the teacher has implemented the strategy. This conversation usually includes four phases: confirming direction, reviewing data and progress toward the goal, identifying ways to move closer to the goal, and deciding on next steps. When discussing next steps, the coach and teacher also consider how the teacher can continue as an independent, reflective practitioner and how the teacher and coach will both stay in informal contact as progress continues. In this conversation, coaches and teachers can focus on a series of questions as they discuss progress and make plans for moving forward.
The Improve Questions
Questions to confirm direction
- Given the time we have today, what’s the most important thing for us to talk about?
- What’s on your mind?
Questions to review progress
- What has gone well?
- What shows the strategy has been successful?
- What progress has been made toward the goal?
- What roadblocks are you encountering?
Questions to identify improvements
- Do you want to stick with the strategy as is?
- Do you want to revisit how you use the strategy?
- Do you want to choose a new strategy?
- Do you want to change the way we measure progress toward the goal?
- Do you want to change the goal?
Questions for planning next actions
- What is the best way for us to continue to communicate?
- What do you need to do between now and that meeting?
- When will you complete those tasks?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how committed are you to your goal?
A Viable Alternative
Fast-track instructional coaching does not replace sustained, long-term coaching. But when time is limited, it offers a strong alternative. School life is too short to invest in professional development that asks teachers to simply go through the motions. To build the schools that students deserve, we need professional learning that respects teachers as professionals and produces measurable improvements in students’ lives. Fast-track instructional coaching is one way to do that.
