Coach Focus Group Discussion Guide

QTEL: Coach Focus Group Discussion Guide

Thank you for meeting with us today. The purpose of our visit is to learn more about your experiences with the San Diego group. Your point of view as professional coaches is extremely valuable to us. We are especially interested in learning more about how you feel the training and coaching sessions are going so far, and how you feel about teachers’ progress in implementing the principles of QTEL in their classroom.

Please keep in mind:

• There are no right or wrong answers to the questions we have prepared. Our questions are designed to stimulate discussion about your experiences with the San Diego group.

• We will audio record our discussion for our internal use only. We will not share recordings with anyone outside of the BPA evaluation team. Your comments will be kept anonymous and will not be traceable to you, the teachers or schools you are working with.

• Please remember to be respectful of everyone’s opinion. Speak one at a time so that everyone’s comments are heard.

• Your specific comments will not be shared with your teachers or any of the school or district administrators.

• Your participation in this focus group is completely voluntary and you don’t have to answer any questions that you don’t want to answer.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a data collection activity unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx. The time required to complete this discussion session should be about 90 minutes, including the time to review instructions. If you have any comments about the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this discussion session, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202-4651. If you have comments or concerns about your individual responses to this discussion , write directly to: Rafael Valdivieso, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Room 506E, Washington, D.C. 20208.

This collection of information is authorized by Public Law 107-279 Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part C, Sec. 151(b) and Sec. 153(a). Participation is voluntary. Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute (PL 107-279 Title I, Part C. Sec. 183). All responses that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics of individuals may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose, unless otherwise compelled by law. Data will be combined to produce statistical reports. No individual data that links your name, address, telephone number, or identification number with your responses will be included in the statistical reports.

Discussion Questions:

1. PARTICIPANT INTRODUCTION

• Now, let's start by everyone sharing their name, the names of the schools where you deliver QTEL coaching services, and how long you’ve been working with the QTEL program.

2. NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Before the start of the QTEL program, do you know if the teachers you worked with in San Diego had any professional development specific to working with ELLs?

• Did they express a need or value for this kind of professional development?

Probes: If so, in what way did they express a need for this kind of professional development? Can you give us some examples?

3. QTEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS

• How well do you feel Building the Base professional development sessions are meeting the needs of the teachers your work with?

Probes: Did you learn anything from the sessions that might cause you to make changes in the Building the Base professional development next time around?

• How well do you feel the follow-up professional development sessions are meeting the needs of the teachers you work with?

Probes: What worked really well for you and the group during these sessions? Is there anything that you’d like to do differently the next time around?

4. INDIVIDUAL COACHING SESSIONS

• How well would you say the coaching process is meeting the needs of the teachers you work with?

Probes: Is there any individual progress that you feel you can attribute directly to the coaching sessions? Please give specific examples. Have you experienced any resistance from the teachers? If so, what kind?

• Overall, are there any aspects of the coaching that you’d like to see improve?

Probes: Communication with teacher regarding availability, content of coaching sessions, etc.?

5. TEACHER COLLABORATION

• Tell us about the collaboration activities taking place at the schools where you coach. How is that aspect of the program going so far?

Probes: For instance, how often collaboration meetings are being held? What is the attendance like? How would you describe the level of engagement?

• How useful do you think these collaboration sessions are for the teachers?

Probes: Can you give us some examples of useful sessions or activities? What is the best part about you’re the collaboration efforts so far?

• Can you think of any ways that the collaboration activities could better meet the needs of the teachers at the schools where you coach?

6. ENACTMENT OF THE QTEL PRINCIPLES

• We’re interested in understanding how you feel your teachers’ skills are developing over time. How well do you feel the teachers are able to enact the QTEL principles in the classroom right now? Can you give us some specific examples that demonstrate how well your teachers are enacting the QTEL principles?

• What would you say are the greatest barriers to a teacher’s enacting of the QTEL principals in her classroom?

• Now that they have had some experience with the QTEL model, how do you think it will impact/has impacted the teachers’ ability to work with ELLs?

Probes: Do the teachers seem to feel more or less confident about meeting the needs of ELLs? Do they seem to be motivated to work with ELLs any more/less than before? Do they ask better questions/show more multicultural awareness than before?

7. SCHOOL AND DISTRICT LEVEL SUPPORT

• How well do you feel the school and district level administrators support the QTEL program?

Probes: Can you think of specific ways that individual principals support the coaching process? Have administrators created any obstacles or barriers for you?

• How well do the principals at the schools where you coach support teacher collaboration?

Probes: Are teachers provided with time during the school day for collaboration? If you have to schedule collaboration meetings outside the regular school day, are teachers compensated for that time? Does collaboration mean extra duty for teachers?

• Can you think of other ways that individual principals or districts support teacher collaboration efforts?
  
  Probes: Release from other duties, incentives or rewards?

• Do you have any suggestions for improvement in school and district level support for QTEL coaching and/or teacher collaboration?

8. PLANNED CHANGES FOR QTEL

• Looking back at your experience with the San Diego group so far, how would you describe your overall level of success with the program?

Probes: Is the program meeting their needs? Do you feel the QTEL teachers are making progress?

• Have you modified the coaching model or your coaching practices to meet the needs of your teacher? If so, in what ways?

• We know that you are constantly adapting and improving QTEL based on your experiences in the field. Are there any changes in implementation of the coaching planned based on your experiences in San Diego so far? Please give specific examples.

We have reached the end of our list of questions. Is there anything else that any of you would like to add? Is there anything else you think we should know about the implementation of the QTEL program in San Diego that we have not already discussed?

We know how busy you are with coaching and other program duties. We sincerely appreciate your taking the time to talk with us today.

THANK YOU!