Abstract
Coaching is a form of professional learning that can contextualize learning and personalize the development of knowledge and skills to improve professional practice and the student experience. Coaching for equity-oriented continuous improvement needs be defined differently than instructional coaching since the schools are focused on changing systems. This exploratory case study uses documents, observations, and interviews from improvement coaches, school design teams, and district partners to describe a coaching model for equity-focused change through a program called Design Improvement and the changes in actions because of coaching. Coaches engaged in five types of practices coach as conductor, thought partner, team builder, empathizer, and cheerleader. These practices resulted in school teams initiating change in their oppressive systems through reflection, collective action, collaboration, and data use.