What is an instructional coach?
Quality teacher professional development is essential to the outcome of student achievement. In their careers, teachers must be challenged with new ideas in order to foster a classroom culture of student engagement. The instructional coach is an embedded professional development practitioner who helps teachers attain these lofty educational outcomes (Blackman, 2010).
Instructional coaches share the responsibility of teacher leadership with administrators in the district. Typically, however, coaches are not teacher supervisors and serve a non-evaluative function (Hanover Research, 2015). Coaches employ their pedagogical expertise and the relationships built with teachers to influence change.
CTE and Instructional Coaching
Career and technical education teachers face unique challenges in the secondary educational setting, where many arrive from industry following a change in careeer. Though they may be experts in their subject matter, they often have minimal training in pedagogy (Foster, Hornberger, >amp; Watkins, 2017). New CTE teachers benefit from mentorship and coaching.
New CTE teachers must learn how to instruct in both classroom and lab environments. Training in classroom safety protocols is a priority. They must learn how to implement classroom management and best practices for engaging students. New CTE teachers also will benefit from understanding, more generally, the field of education. They need to be informed about work expectations, academic achievement, special populations and school policy.
In a large school district, as CTE administrators are busy with the day-to-day business of running the department, important communications with teachers can be lost. Instructional coaches provide mentorship to teachers and they also listen to the teachers’ aspirations and concerns. As a result, through listening, the CTE instructional coach can counsel the teacher on their goals.
Monica Amyett is a CTE instructional coach with Fort Worth Independent School District. Email her.
ACTE members can read the full article, “Instructional Coaching >amp; Its Role in Career Development for CTE Teachers,” in the May issue of Techniques. Not a member? Join! ACTE is the largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers.
With so many things connected to the internet, we all need to be aware of the dangers. More and more devices are connected to the internet all the time, which means more entry points and vulnerabilities. To secure the many “internet of things” (IoT) connected devices is a major cybersecurity challenge. A cyberattack can take down an entire organization. In fact, it can have a huge impact nationwide.
During the 2018–19 school year, The Twiggs County Comprehensive Middle High School partnered with The Fort Valley State University and its Extension Agent Terolyn Chaney to feed the community and conduct resume writing workshops.
Triston Tuggle, a high school senior studying Power Sports at the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC), has been accepted into 
mentor that not only helped me get my school-based enterprise up and running, but advocated for Career and Technical Education and persuading me to be an ACTE member. It did not take much after learning how much CTE does for our students and their futures.
y classes at Bartlett High School participated in Cooks and Camo, a competition-style event sponsored by the Illinois Army National Guard. Competitors were challenged to create an entree and dessert items inspired by military field rations, known as meals ready to eat (MRE).
a family and consumer sciences teacher at Bartlett High School, in Bartlett, Illinois.
Recently, equity issues have taken precedence in career and technology education (CTE) campuses to provide and support students in equitable manners. Educational equality means providing the same amount of resources and support regardless of their learning needs. Educational equity refers to the ability of providing resources and support based on individual needs. This discernment becomes even more relevant when using technology with student population who may or may not have easily available access to the internet. Moreover, teachers realize that equity issues often meet students’ needs more accurately and a variety of sources are use continuously to close the achievement gap. Thus, current reality is equitable access to technology of teachers and students, especially those dependent on improper funding methods. The duty of an educational leader is to develop an equitable strategy to help access technology and resources for teachers and students alike to close the achievement gap. Some of these strategies are discussed the following.
