Instructional coaches adhere to three core principles: Choice, dialogue, and knowledge in action.

Choice Instructional coaches respect teachers' professionalism and ability to make decisions. They demonstrate this respect by offering teachers a wide range of options and by encouraging teachers to tailor interventions for their classrooms and students.


Dialogue Instructional coaches and teachers spend a great deal of their time talking about learning and teaching. They share ideas, identify problems, create solutions, and plan together through a free-flow of ideas.


Knowledge in action Instructional coaches assume that knowledge is learned quickest when it is learned on the job. Instructional coaches and teachers are engaged in a mutually creative act, and part of the attraction of working with a coach for teachers is the simple joy that comes from any creative endeavor.

KU-CRL's Instructional Coaching Theory

Instructional coaches base their actions on the Partnership Principles of Partnership Learning.


Instructional coaches respect teachers' professionalism and focus their efforts on two-way conversations that lead to creative, practical application of research-based practices.


Instructional coaches see themselves and teachers as equal partners in the complex and richly rewarding work of teaching students.


More than anything else, instructional coaches work in partnerships to accelerate teachers' professional learning through mutually enriching, healthy relationships.


Instructional coaches are colleagues, friends, and confidants who listen with care and share valuable information with teachers at the time when teachers most need it.