Continuous quality improvement is a helpful framework for organizing efforts to build teachers’ competency. The continuous quality improvement framework acknowledges that people grow as professionals when they have clear goals in mind, repeated opportunities for practicing those goals, and ways to reflect upon the success of their practice. Coaches should focus their efforts in areas that teachers need to change or goals teachers want to achieve. Successful CQI models begin with communication about the core principles of continuous improvement that are applied in teachers’ classrooms. For example, it is important to highlight repeated cycles of assessment, planning, practice, and reflection as ongoing efforts to improve the teacher’s professional competency.
The coach’s communication is critical in setting realistic goals that match the teacher’s interests, and most importantly that are in alignment with their data. A key element of the CQI process is to make sure that the teacher is reflecting and improving on their practices that are tightly connected to their goals.
When thinking about how to build a professional competency, you might consider using the following competencies:
- The coach describes how the core principles of continuous improvement (e.g., repeated cycles of assessment, planning, practice, and reflection) are applied in educational settings
- The coach supports the practitioner with articulating specific action steps (e.g., lesson adaptation) that are in alignment with their reflections on or conclusions about events and interactions
- The coach supports the practitioner in setting realistic goals (i.e., within scope, timeframe, and ability levels) in alignment with classroom/facility data, performance data, reflection on practice, and their own interests
- The coach supports the practitioner in identifying and planning for repeated practice opportunities in connection with goals
Mentoring Prompts
- Overview: “Let’s go through the continuous improvement cycle and identify each step.”
- Review data: “Let’s talk a look at your data and identify areas of improvement.”
- Create a plan: “Let’s create a plan that outlines when, where, and how you will meet these goals.”
- Reflect/Interests: “Now that you have identified some areas of improvement, which of these goals do you feel strongly about?”
- Repeated practice: “Can you think of additional times throughout the day that you can continue to practice this goal?”