The Value of Coaching As an Added Component to the Evidence-based Partnership Schools Model

What is the Partnership Schools Model?

Established at Johns Hopkins University in 1996, the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) invites schools, districts, states, and organizations to join together and use research-based approaches to organize and sustain excellent programs of family and community engagement that will increase student success in school.

The Partnership Schools approach includes four essential elements:

• Action Team for Partnerships
• Framework of Six Types of Involvement
• One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships
• Program Evaluation

The Partnership Schools Model is outlined in a Handbook for Action that accompanies professional learning sessions by NNPS. The Handbook is a great place to learn about research on family engagement, and how to systematically embed family engagement in education program operations.

Why did Ohio decide to add a coaching component to the Partnership Schools Model?

We know from Implementation Science about the importance of coaching for fidelity of implementation for education initiatives. It makes every initiative more successful when a thought-partner is working side by side with a district leader or a teacher. Family engagement initiatives are no different. Our coaches, in large part, have been learning and working alongside our team for years. They have attended countless family engagement professional learning sessions, have co-developed and co-presented on a variety of topics with us, and are experts in their own right on engaging families and community partners. Several have worked with us to create new practitioner-focused tools.

What do coaches do?

Our coaches provide critical support for recruitment of districts and schools, ensuring membership forms are submitted annually, checking-in about district implementation, they help us get higher response rates on surveys, provide targeted professional learning for schools and districts, and perhaps most importantly they are good listeners and connect district leaders with the supports they need. We ask that they meet with district leaders at least once per month.

What tools and resources do Ohio’s coaches use?

Ohio’s coaches use a combination of prior knowledge, locally-grown resources, NNPS resources, and tools from the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center to guide their coaching with district leaders. Our coaches attend annual coaching kickoff meetings, monthly 1-hour virtual colleague connect meetings (optional), and attend all Partnership Schools trainings with Dr. Epstein alongside their districts and school teams. We send monthly Ohio Partnership Schools Newsletters, where we offer timely coaching ideas, reminders, and links to resources. Additionally, our coaches submit quarterly coaching logs to our team, so that we can see how their meetings are going and how to effectively support them and their districts. The team at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center has supported each of Ohio’s regions with funding and technical assistance via email and phone throughout each year.