Beyond the Checklist: Coaching for Impact Using an Arc of the Year Strategy

Imagine this: a new school year begins, and as a teacher, you’re handed a rubric with 16 different instructional practices, all deemed “essential” for excellence. Your coach then informs you they’ll be observing and coaching you on… well, all of them. Sound familiar? If you’re a coach, teacher, or school leader, you probably recognize the immediate feelings that arise from this scenario: overwhelm, scattered focus, and a sense of “where do I even begin?”

At Hendy Avenue, we recognize a fundamental truth about instructional coaching: you can’t effectively coach (or be coached on) 16 different things at once. It’s simply not sustainable.

Here’s why the “all at once” approach falls short:

• Coach Overwhelm: For coaches, trying to observe, provide feedback, and support growth across a vast array of indicators for every teacher is a recipe for burnout. The coaching becomes superficial, lacking the depth needed for true impact.
• Teacher Overwhelm: Teachers, already juggling countless responsibilities, are left feeling inadequate when faced with a long list of “areas for improvement.” This can lead to frustration and a lack of clear direction.
• Not All Indicators Are Created Equal: Some instructional practices are foundational, forming the bedrock of an effective classroom. Others are more advanced, building upon those initial skills. Treating them all with the same urgency neglects this natural cascade of development.
• Lack of Coherence: When every coach is focusing on different aspects of the rubric, and every teacher is getting varied feedback, the school’s PD efforts become fragmented. It’s incredibly difficult to have aligned PD that truly supports the coaching happening in classrooms if there’s no shared focus. This creates a chaotic environment where teachers receive “random” information rather than a coherent, supportive system.

Enter the “Arc of the Year”: A Strategic Approach to Coaching and PD

To combat this potential overwhelm, we advocate for chunking the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric and the associated coaching into manageable “arcs” across the school year. This strategy brings focus, coherence, and ultimately, greater impact to your instructional improvement efforts.

The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric is organized into four domains, each with an essential question and a set of indicators that describe what an effective classroom looks like. Our “Arc of the Year” strategy aligns with these domains to provide a clear pathway for teacher development. The goal for each teacher is to work toward a rating of “Proficiency” or a “Level 3” during each observation on each Indicator.

Here’s how it works:

Arc 1: Building a Strong Foundation (Domain 1: Classroom Culture)

The beginning of the school year is crucial for establishing a predictable, accessible, and joyful learning environment. How you start is how it is. Therefore, Arc 1 is intensely focused on Domain 1: Classroom Culture.

• PD Alignment: Your school-wide professional development should be specifically designed to reinforce strong routines, cultivate joy, and build positive relationships.
• Focused Observations & Feedback: When a coach enters a classroom, their observations and subsequent feedback are laser-focused on these foundational elements. They’re looking specifically at indicators related to predictable routines, high expectations for all, community and relationships, and academic joy. 
• Targeted Coaching: Coaching conversations and support are rooted in these Domain 1 indicators. If a coach observes a classroom struggling with transitions, the coaching will center on strategies for smoother routines, and use the Core Teacher Skills from Domain 1 to help.

A critical nuance: if you’re coaching an experienced teacher who has already established a beautiful classroom culture, the coach shouldn’t waste time on what’s already mastered. Instead, the coach should look ahead within the framework and begin to coach that teacher on what they need, even if it falls outside the general Arc 1 focus. This personalized approach is key.

Arc 2: Deepening Instructional Practice (Domain 2: Lesson Content & Implementation)

Once a significant majority of teachers in a school have established a strong classroom culture, it’s time to move on to the design and implementation of instruction. Arc 2 shifts the focus to Domain 2: Lesson Content & Implementation. This domain addresses whether students are engaged with content that is purposeful, rigorous, and differentiated.

• Data-Driven Decisions: This transition is often informed by school-wide data. Are we seeing issues with student engagement in academic tasks? Are students demonstrating deep understanding, or just surface-level recall? This data guides the specific indicators within Domain 2 that will be prioritized.
• Coaching Alignment: During this arc, coaches are focused on things like lesson alignment, pacing, rigor, and differentiation. The goal is to ensure teachers are spending the most time on the most important concepts and that students are engaging in productive struggle with the content.  When coaches enter classrooms, their observations and feedback are centered on these indicators. The majority of a teacher’s coaching should be in this arc unless they have a foundational gap in a prior domain.

Arc 3: Centering Student Thinking (Domain 3: Student Thinking)

After a strong foundation in classroom culture and lesson execution is established, the arc shifts to

Domain 3: Student Thinking. This domain asks to what extent students are responsible for the thinking, speaking, writing, and creating in the classroom.

• Coaching Alignment: When coaches observe during this arc, they are focused on the ratio of teacher to student thinking. Key indicators in this arc include questioning, ensuring students are doing the “heavy lifting,” discussion facilitation, and building content expertise in students. A coach will look to see if the teacher is asking questions at a variety of levels and if students are supporting their answers with evidence and explanation. The focus is on ensuring students are the ones doing the intellectual work.
• PD Alignment: School-wide data from coaching helps to inform school-wide PD. If, in Arc 3, many teachers are struggling with facilitating student discussion, then the school might plan a PD focused on techniques for discussion facilitation. The goal is to ensure that PD is aligned and coherent with support in individual coaching.

Arc 4: Responsiveness to Learning (Domain 4: Responsiveness to Learning)

The final arc of the year focuses on Domain 4: Responsiveness to Learning. This domain addresses how teachers use data and feedback to ensure students are learning and to reteach or provide support for more precise understanding.

• Coaching Alignment: This arc is centered on how teachers actively monitor student learning, use data to make instructional decisions, provide intentional feedback, and teach with purpose. Coaches will observe how teachers circulate to evaluate student progress and how they adjust their teaching based on misconceptions. This is about closing the loop of instruction, ensuring that student learning is continuously being assessed and supported.

The “Arc of the Year” is a framework, not a rigid straitjacket. While the general focus shifts, individualized coaching remains paramount. If a teacher’s classroom management significantly deteriorates, a good coach will still address that immediate need, regardless of the current arc. Conversely, if a teacher is excelling in the current arc’s focus, the coach should proactively move to areas where that teacher is ready for more advanced development. By strategically chunking the rubric into these arcs, schools can transform an overwhelming set of indicators into a clear, coherent, and highly effective pathway for teacher growth and student success.

Want support designing an arc of the year strategy for your school or district? Send us an email!