HOT SCHOOLS Coaches

Guide, Confidante, Facilitator, Critical Friend, Colleague

• Effecting and supporting sustainable whole school change through the HOT Schools APPROACH to teaching and learning in, about and through the arts in a democratic community

• Providing non-evaluative observation and feedback to teachers and administrators and HOT School Program staff as part of continuous feedback and growth loop

• Facilitating the creation of a shared vision with the school in alignment with HOT Schools and articulating the relationship between HOT Schools Goals and the School Improvement Plans

• Assisting schools in setting annual measurable goals for improving learning, teaching and assessment

• Assisting schools in identifying and collecting evidence about the impact of the program on their school community

• Assisting in strengthening Arts Integrated teacher practice

• Assisting with creating opportunities for leadership development at all levels: student, teachers, parents and administration

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HOT Schools Coaches visit a HOT school 3 times per year to provide guidance, share information and HOT strategies from one school to another, assist in developing or strengthening interdisciplinary planning teams and assist HOT Program Staff in best serving each school’s unique needs to reach their HOT Schools goals.

GOAL SETTING:
Alignment: How will you encourage alignment of school improvement plans and personal growth plans with the HOT Schools APPROACH?

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IMPACTING TEACHER PRACTICE:
Commitment: Do personal growth plans of teachers and administrators reflect awareness of the HOT APPROACH?

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INTERDISCIPLINARY PLANNING TEAMS:
Transparent and consistent: Who participates in school improvement plan and HOT school goal setting processes? Raising awareness of HOT APPROACH in crafting the mission, vision and alignment of the school?

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INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUPPORT FOR CHANGE:
Time: How do you arrange your time to best support and impact teaching and learning? How do you support and facilitate interdisciplinary planning time and support for personal growth plans and collaborative planning?

To assist schools in moving along the Continuum to Exemplary Practice Level in the HOT Schools Approach:

1. Facilitating Alignment of The HOT Schools Approach with school improvement plan and any other initiatives to create a cohesive approach to whole school change

2. Facilitating the creation of a school-wide unified shared vision and plan focusing on  student engagement and achievement through the HOT Schools Approach

3. Encouraging Commitment and buy-in by all stakeholders in school community to working in, about and through the Arts for whole school change,fostering a school culture of trust, respect and joy

4. Encouraging transparent and consistent communication among the school’s stakeholders while building parent and community partnerships

5. Encouraging creative scheduling for intentional interdisciplinary common planning time

6. Modeling arts-integrated teaching practice

7. Observing, sharing and encouraging strategies to build a collaborative, arts-energized school community

8. Brainstorming strategies to address structural issues (scheduling, interdisciplinary planning teams, consistent communication, etc) to support student achievement)

• Work with leadership team to assess the degree to which faculty and administrators demonstrate a clear understanding of the HOT Schools APPROACH

• Assist in building capacity for faculty to look critically and constructively at each other's work to collaboratively build a community of practice

• Identify Teacher Leaders for Leadershops and shadowing opportunities

• Provide strategies for cultivating a democratic school community that includes shared decision making

• Encourage embedding professional development in the daily practices of the school through action research and project-based learning

• Assist in creating critical friends groups

• Promote “studio thinking”

• Promote Habits of Mind that create lifelong learners

• Assist in creating classroom, team, or building-wide project-based learning “themes”

• Assist in developing authentic and reliable assessments (rubrics, portfolios, exhibits, etc) with clear performance criteria

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HOT Schools Coaches use the HOT Schools Rubric and Learning Walk as guides to spark conversation about pedagogy and practice. Movement along the Continuum toward “Becoming HOT” is dependent upon the degree of encouragement, communication and support of the school’s leadership and buy-in to the HOT Approach by faculty.