Professional learning · Coaches, Leaders · 55 minutes
The Coaching Agreement
A coach and principal analyze a coaching-time audit together, including the drift that AI and tech rollouts cause, and write a one-page agreement before the coaching cycle begins.
By November, many coaches find their weeks filled with testing coordination, class coverage, and resetting passwords for the latest platform, while coaching cycles quietly stall. This session comes before the TCEA EIIR coaching cycle begins. A coach and a principal read a fictional two-week coaching-time audit, sort where the time went, and name the sources of role drift, including a campus AI rollout. Then they walk through a six-step conversation and write a one-page agreement: the role, the evaluation boundary, what the coach won't take on, a realistic caseload, how coaching logs stay private, and what AI may and may not do with them.
In this packet
- Handout A: Coaching-Time Audit, Sycamore Springs Elementary (reading)
- Handout B: Six-Step Agreement Conversation (organizer)
- Handout C: Coach–Principal Agreement (worksheet)
TCEA ELE indicators
- C3.1 I know how to use data to inform instructional decisions.
- C5.1 I know how to foster a collaborative culture among educators.
- C1.1 I know how to mentor teachers in effective instructional practices.
- L2.1 I know how to support and evaluate effective technology integration practices.
Full facilitator guide: mglearn.github.io/eles/activities/the-coaching-agreement.html
Handout A for The Coaching Agreement
Coaching-Time Audit, Sycamore Springs Elementary
Fictional audit of two weeks (75 contract hours) for coach Imani Brooks. Highlight each line: deep coaching, surface support, or non-coaching.
1Coaching cycles with teachers, 9 hours. Two active cycles: a Grade 3 teacher working on student discussion, and a Grade 5 teacher redesigning a research lesson so students check sources. Includes co-planning, one modeled lesson, and one session looking at student work together.
2PLC and planning meetings, 8 hours. Six meetings. In four, the coach facilitated a look at student work. In two, the coach presented district updates.
3Non-evaluative classroom visits, 4 hours. Five short visits requested by teachers, each followed by a two-minute conversation.
4Technology support, 14 hours. Resetting passwords and fixing sign-in problems on the new district AI writing platform; setting up accounts for two classes; troubleshooting projectors; answering "Can we use this app?" emails.
5Testing coordination, 10 hours. Organizing materials and schedules for a benchmark assessment window.
6Covering classes, 7 hours. Three days of substitute coverage when no sub was available. Lunch and bus duty, 7.5 hours.
7Administrative meetings, 6 hours. Leadership team and a district meeting. Materials for the principal, 5 hours. Slides and a newsletter section announcing the AI writing platform. Email and logging, 4.5 hours.
8Contact tally. 31 teacher contacts in two weeks: 6 were deep (tied to a cycle or student work), 25 were surface (a link, a quick fix, a resource dropped in a mailbox).
9Coaching log excerpt. Stored in the campus leadership shared folder. "Mr. Hale, struggling with management, AI platform not set up. Ms. Ortiz, great lesson, kids on task. Ms. Ruiz, resistant to AI, needs push." Note at the bottom: "Pasted the log into a chatbot to summarize for the principal."
10Principal's note (for the person playing the principal). "Imani is our most trusted teacher leader, so everything lands on her. The superintendent wants every teacher using the AI platform by winter break, and I need someone to make that happen. I also need to know which teachers are struggling."
Handout B for The Coaching Agreement
Six-Step Agreement Conversation
About three minutes per step. The coach paraphrases the principal's view before responding at every step. Record only what you both agree to.
| Step | Questions to discuss | What we agree |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Gather the evidence | What does the audit show? What did student work from last year's coaching cycles show? What surprised each of us? | |
| 2 · Clarify the role | In one sentence, what is coaching on this campus? Who is it for? How will teachers hear about it? | |
| 3 · Set evaluation boundaries | What does the principal receive from coaching (patterns, cycle focus areas) and never receive (observation notes, logs, names tied to concerns)? | |
| 4 · Name what the coach won't take on | Which duties go to someone else? Who handles platform troubleshooting and accounts? How is coaching's role in the AI rollout different from tech support? | |
| 5 · Set a realistic caseload | How many teachers in cycles at once? How many hours a week are protected for coaching? What happens when coverage is needed? | |
| 6 · Learn the campus first | What will the coach listen for in the first weeks before launching anything new? Which teachers and students haven't been heard yet? |
Handout C for The Coaching Agreement
Coach–Principal Agreement
One page. Write only decisions. Both people sign at the bottom and set a date to rerun the audit.
Coaching on our campus is… (one sentence teachers will hear):
Evaluation boundary: The principal will receive… The principal will not receive…
The coach will not take on… These go instead to…
Caseload and protected time: teachers in cycles at once, protected hours per week, and what happens when coverage is needed:
Coaching logs: where they live, who can see them, and our rule for AI (teacher names and student information never go into an AI tool; AI may help with…):
Technology and AI initiatives: how the coach supports them through coaching cycles, and what counts as support someone else provides:
Evidence we'll check, the date we rerun the audit, and our signatures: