Introducing the Early Learning webinar series
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invites you to view the first webinar hosted by our our Early Learning Solutions team. On Thursday, June 22, 2023 we discussed the role that instructional coaching can play in supporting pre-K teachers and promoting high-quality preschool programs that meet the needs of all children.
As noted by U.C. Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, about 40 percent of early educators are women of color, and in addition to low pay and inadequate benefits, many of them experience barriers to accessing and participating in professional development. Instructional coaching plays an important role in helping these educators build on their strengths and develop new skills.
In this video, the 2020 National Teacher of the Year, Tabatha Rosproy, will dive into what she thinks is needed to make instructional coaching effective. Leaders at SRI International, Substantial, and Teachstone will share details on how they are working to improve instructional coaching so that it’s done in partnership with teachers, supports a teacher’s growth, and ensures all children in a classroom are equitably served. Teachstone will highlight the new tool they are creating based on conversations with teachers, coaches, and administrators across the country.
High-quality instructional coaching in pre-K
Recorded: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Meet the Webinar Hosts
Snow Li, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Snow Li is a program officer on the Early Learning team, where she focuses on Early Learning data systems and assessments. Snow was a former special education teacher and a member of the Assessment Team at ANet, where she designed early elementary assessments, instructional resources, and PD.
Veronica Fernandez, Teachstone
Veronica Fernandez, PhD, is the vice president of content development and social impact at Teachstone. She is a developmental psychologist and has spent over 15 years focused on supporting the development of early childhood education professionals.
Sarah Nixon Gerard, SRI
Sarah Nixon Gerard is an education researcher at SRI’s Center for Learning and Development, where she conducts program evaluation and policy research, drawing on her experience as a prekindergarten classroom teacher and Capitol Hill staffer. Her work focuses primarily on young children’s learning in both classroom and informal settings.
Todd Grindal, SRI
Todd Grindal is the co-director of SRI’s Center for Learning and Development and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work examines how policies and programs shape the development of young children and children with disabilities. Todd is also a former preschool teacher and early childhood program director.
Sherly Cababa, Substantial
Sheryl Cababa is the chief strategy officer at the Insights, Design + Development Studio, Substantial. She is focused on reinventing the approaches of learning and collaboration in today’s educational environment to help equity-centered research affirm and advance relationships between institutions, educators, and students.
Tabatha Rosproy, 2020 National Teacher of the Year
Now a 10-year veteran teacher, Tabatha teaches typically developing and special education preschoolers at Winfield Early Learning Center. As the 2020 National Teacher of the Year, Tabatha has used her platform to promote the importance of early childhood education and the need for social-emotional learning for all students.
Resources
Explore more in these blogs
- Instructional Coaching: What We Heard from Pre-K Teachers
- Reimagining Instructional Coaching in Early Learning
Additional resources:
- Designing for Growth: This report outlines the learnings from the co-design efforts on refining coaching that Teachstone led in partnership with Intentional Futures.
- Improving Teaching Practice with Instructional Coaching: Todd Grindal at SRI International mentioned this Brown University meta-analysis of five-dozen high-quality teacher evaluations in K-12.
- Reimagining Instructional Coaching: During the webinar, SRI and Substantial shared this new resource on the ideal features and capabilities for instructional coaching observational tools.
- During the webinar, Tabatha Rosproy read this poem, which we created based on quotes from pre-K teachers and coaches. Webinar participants were eager for a copy!