Cherry Creek presents '15-day challenge' and push for instructional coaches districtwide
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Summary
District staff told the board they have expanded instructional coaches to 65 and are rolling out a '15-day challenge' tied to professional learning communities, with the goal of moving toward one coach per school, aligning common formative assessments and supporting literacy goals for 2030.
District staff gave the Board of Education a detailed presentation on Nov. 10 about regrounding the district in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and expanding instructional coaching.
"The Instructional Excellence... coaches have expanded this program to 65," a presenter said, noting the district is working toward a one-to-one coach-to-school target and using a '15-day challenge' to structure unit planning, collaborative team work and professional learning.
Presenters described the coaches’ day-to-day work as induction and mentoring for new teachers, co-planning, co-teaching and facilitating collaborative teams to implement common formative assessments that inform Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. "They're working in facilitating, helping build the capacity of teachers to facilitate collaborative teams and implement the 15 day challenge," a presenter said.
Training milestones cited in the presentation included sessions with external experts such as Maria Nelson and a series of 'pink days' and regional ADCO events through the school year to deepen implementation. Staff said elementary collaborative teams had already engaged with Nelson and that secondary coaches will continue training into February and beyond.
Board members asked about evaluation, coverage and barriers. Presenters said coaches do keep dynamic notes on teacher progress but are not evaluators, and administrators become involved when coaching is not received. On coverage, presenters said roughly two-thirds of schools currently have a full-time coach while the remainder share coaches; the district said it will be creative in reaching its 1:1 goal.
The presentation framed PLCs as a system-wide effort to reduce random initiatives, improve alignment around literacy and whole-child goals, and provide measurable evidence of learning changes. Superintendent Smith and board members praised the work and identified measurement through PLC continua and common assessments as the next steps.
The presentation closed with staff noting plans to measure growth and celebrate progress in spring and prepare a second-year implementation with increased focus on rigor and engagement.