ABSTRACT
Coaching has become a familiar form of professional development in today's school systems because professionals in the field recognize that traditional "drive by" trainings can actually decrease teachers' interest in professional growth and increase antagonism to professional learning. Corresponding to the rise of coaching have come specific coaching models that seek to detail key attributes of effective coaching practice, such as peer, cognitive, instructional, and content coaching. Peer coaching activities, however, can be grouped into two distinct categories: collaborative work and formal coaching. Collaborative work emphasizes the informal efforts taken through mutual learning. Cognitive coaching is a process during which teachers explore the thinking behind their practices. Instructional coaching bases its work on "enrolling" teachers to engage in the coaching process. Instructional coaching centers its work in the classroom with coaches modeling, observing, and debriefing. The coaching models should be differentiated based on staff needs.
