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ISTE Standards: For Coaches

The coaches section of the ISTE Standards illustrates the characteristics, activities, philosophies and mindsets of today’s instructional technology coaches. Because coaches have a unique role as capacity builders and implementation experts, these standards guide coaches in ensuring that learning with technology is high impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable for all. This section also helps define the role of the coach and show how that role relates to the roles of students, educators and education leaders.

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4.1 Change Agent

Coaches inspire educators and leaders to use technology to create equitable and ongoing access to meaningful learning.

4.1.a Create a Shared Vision

Create a shared vision and culture for using technology to learn and accelerate transformation through the coaching process.

4.1.b Ensure Equitable Use of Tools & Content

Facilitate equitable use of digital learning tools and content that meet the needs of each learner.

4.1.c Cultivate a Supportive Coaching Culture

Cultivate a supportive coaching culture that encourages educators and leaders to achieve a shared vision and meet individual goals.

4.1.d Recognize High-Impact Teaching

Recognize educators across the organization who use technology effectively to enable high-impact teaching and learning.

4.1.e Maximize Potential of Technology

Connect leaders, educators, instructional support, technical support, domain experts and solution providers to maximize the potential of technology for learning.

4.2 Connected Learner

Coaches model the Student and Educator standards, and identify ways to improve their coaching practice.

4.2.a Deepen Expertise Through Professional Learning

Pursue professional learning that deepens expertise with the ISTE Standards to serve as a model for educators and leaders.

4.2.b Participate in PLNs

Actively participate in professional learning networks to enhance coaching practice and keep current with emerging technology, innovations in pedagogy and the learning sciences.

4.2.c Commit to Continuous Improvement

Establish shared goals with educators, reflect on successes and continually improve coaching and teaching practice.

4.3 Collaborator

Coaches establish productive relationships with educators to improve instructional practice and learning outcomes.

4.3.a Cultivate Coaching Relationships

Establish trusting and respectful coaching relationships that encourage educators to explore new instructional strategies.

4.3.b Identify Relevant Learning Content With Educators

Partner with educators to identify digital learning content that is culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate and aligned to content standards.

4.3.c Evaluate Effectiveness of Tools for Learning

Partner with educators to evaluate the efficacy of digital learning content and tools to inform procurement decisions and adoption.

4.3.d Personalize Support for Educators

Personalize support for educators by planning and modeling the effective use of technology to improve student learning.

4.4 Learning Designer

Coaches model and support educators to design learning experiences and environments that meet the needs and interests of all students.

4.4.a Collaborate on Learning Design

Collaborate with educators to develop authentic, active learning experiences that foster student agency, deepen content mastery and allow students to demonstrate their competency.

4.4.b Support Effective Assessments

Help educators use digital tools to create effective assessments that provide timely feedback and support personalized learning.

4.4.c Collaborate to Accommodate Learner Needs

Collaborate with educators to design accessible and active digital learning environments that accommodate learner variability.

4.4.d Model Instructional Design Principles

Model the use of instructional design principles with educators to create effective digital learning environments.

4.5 Professional Learning Facilitator

Coaches plan, provide and evaluate the impact of professional learning for educators and leaders on the use of technology to advance teaching and learning.

4.5.a Design Quality Professional Learning

Design professional learning based on needs assessments and frameworks for working with adults to support their cultural, social-emotional and learning needs.

4.5.b Build Capacity

Build the capacity of educators, leaders and instructional teams to put the ISTE Standards into practice by facilitating active learning and providing meaningful feedback.

4.5.c Evaluate PD Impact

Evaluate the impact of professional learning and continually make improvements to meet the schoolwide vision for using technology for high-impact teaching and learning.

4.6 Data-Driven Decision-Maker

Coaches model and support the use of qualitative and quantitative data to inform their own instruction and professional learning.

4.6.a Facilitate Data Collection and Analysis

Assist educators and leaders in securely collecting and analyzing student data.

4.6.b Help Educators Interpret Data

Support educators to interpret qualitative and quantitative data to inform their decisions and support individual student learning.

4.6.c Support Student Data Use

Partner with educators to empower students to use learning data to set their own goals and measure their progress.

4.7 Digital Citizen Advocate

Coaches model digital citizenship and support educators and students in recognizing the responsibilities and opportunities inherent in living in a digital world.

4.7.a Encourage Civic Engagement

Inspire and encourage educators and students to use technology for civic engagement and to address challenges to improve their communities.

4.7.b Foster Respectful Online Behavior

Partner with educators, leaders, students and families to foster a culture of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of technology.

4.7.c Foster Media Evaluation

Support educators and students in critically examining online media sources and identifying underlying assumptions.

4.7.d Support Others in Protecting Personal Data

Empower educators, leaders and students to make informed decisions to protect their personal data, and curate the digital profile they intend to reflect.