By Joellen Killion
Each year in the United States more than 200,000 teachers leave the classroom, often citing insufficient preparation and lack of support as major reasons. District leaders are increasingly recognizing that improving teacher preparation and offering occasional workshops is not enough. To sustain teacher effectiveness and retention, districts are combining high-quality professional learning with a growing emphasis on instructional coaching to extend meaningful support directly into classrooms.
As districts roll out new curriculum and instructional practices, they are expanding professional learning to include job-embedded coaching. Instructional coaches help teachers translate professional development into routine classroom practice, offering personalized support that addresses the needs of both novice and veteran educators in the real context of their schools. When teachers effectively integrate new materials and methods with ongoing coaching, student outcomes improve.
Research shows that instructional coaching is a powerful complement to traditional, in-person professional learning, but the impact depends on the skill of the coaches themselves. As schools scale coaching programs, leaders face the practical challenge of preparing new coaches, onboarding them after initial training, and supporting continuous development—especially in districts where in-person training options are limited.
Districts that want lasting results from professional learning understand that effective development requires sustained engagement, opportunities for application, and time for reflection. Online platforms make continuous, job-embedded learning practical and scalable, allowing districts to invest once in high-quality content and then support coaches and teachers over the long term.
Throughout my career I’ve seen how sustained professional learning transforms classrooms, schools, and districts, yet access to consistent, high-quality development remains a barrier for many educators. Technology removes many access constraints, offering personalized, ongoing learning for coaches and teachers. One example is the online course Effective Coaching to Strengthen Instruction, created in partnership with Learning Forward—the professional association that defines standards for professional learning—and PCG Education, a provider of research-based online professional development. This type of course helps build coach expertise so coaching efforts have wide and lasting impact.
Instructional coaches are making a measurable difference in teaching and learning, and districts are rethinking how to prepare and sustain them. Below are three reasons investing in high-quality, online professional development for instructional coaches is a strategic priority for districts focused on teacher support and student success.
- Instructional coaching strengthens novice teachers by providing a reliable support system.
Coaching helps teachers move from conceptual understanding to consistent classroom practice. For beginning teachers, those switching grades or subjects, or alternatively certified teachers with limited experience, a skilled coach can be critical. Teachers learn in different ways, and a coach personalizes support to match individual needs. New coaches also require sustained, accessible professional learning so they can apply coaching strategies effectively and grow in their role.
- Instructional coaching deepens and refreshes the expertise of experienced teachers.
Veteran teachers benefit from coaching as much as novices. When all teachers, not just a subset, engage in continuous learning with coaches, equity in instruction improves schoolwide. Coaches provide feedback, models of practice, and reflective opportunities that prompt experienced teachers to update methods and increase impact. Access to ongoing professional learning for coaches ensures they bring evidence-based practices to their conversations with teachers.
- Shared language and common practices among coaches transform district capacity.
Instructional coaches, like classroom teachers, benefit from a shared framework and vocabulary for analyzing practice. Online professional learning can build a common language, aligned goals, and foundational skills among coaches and their supervisors. This consistency increases a district’s coaching capacity, improves coherence in teacher support, and leads to stronger instruction and better student learning.
Simply placing a coach in a school is not sufficient to meet every teacher’s needs or to sustain improvement. District leaders must ensure coaching is high-quality by investing in rigorous preparation, ongoing learning, and supportive supervision for instructional coaches. Well-designed online professional development can provide the scalable, sustained support coaches need to be catalysts for meaningful change in classrooms and across schools.
Joellen Killion is a senior advisor at Learning Forward, where she contributes to standards resources, consulting services, and implementation work related to college- and career-ready standards. Follow her on Twitter @jpkillion.
This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, a research institute and news media hub focused on the transition to digital curriculum in education.