Coaching educational teams towards improving levels of school performance a case study conducted in Israel

The research investigated the effect of the Katom Coaching Model (KCM) on improving the quality of school performance.

The KCM is tailored to fit the school and its needs according to the head teacher and the management team's priorities. The frame of work of the coaching intervention includes six phases, during which learning outcomes are systematically monitored (pedagogical, sociocultural and administrative) while three overall school processes are amplified -
1. The creation /updating of the school vision and its integration into school praxis;
2 .The management of organizational learning; acknowledging school successes, celebrating and learning from them; and
3 .The management of personal- professional learning in order to create a school coaching culture.

The research was conducted as a case study in a high school in Israel over a period of one school year. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used (a mixed methodology).

The quantitative data collected included pre and post intervention data. Quantitative data was collected with the Diagnostic Inventory of School Culture (DISC) questionnaires. Quantitative data was also collected from school records; grades (internal school grades and external grades from the ministry of education national exams), records of teacher evaluation of student studiousness and student behavior and records of teacher attendance.

The qualitative data collected included information from 16 in depth interviews with staff at the end of the intervention, data from documents created by coachees monitoring and reflecting on their own progress, and a research diary.

A Delphi group process was conducted so that expert coaches could engage with the model and discuss findings and conclusions which emerged from the study.

The quantitative findings showed a significant improvement in the quality of school learning outcomes following the coaching intervention. The improvement was evident in both staff conceptions and in school records. The three overall school processes that were tracked produced evidence of progress, especially concerning the integration of the school vision into school praxis. The qualitative findings helped conceptualize ideas which have come to be used while coaching in schools:

1. The facilitation of the transfer of skills and knowledge both as an indication of coaching success and for nurturing the emergence of a coaching culture in school.
2. The use of the parallel cycle concept for the supervision process of coaches in the field.
3. Using the 'levels of change' as an evaluation tool.