The number of school districts using instructional coaches is growing at a staggering rate. Coaching is becoming popular, in part, because many educational leaders recognize the old form of professional development, built around traditional in-service sessions for teachers, simply does not affect student achievement. By offering support, feedback,…

Teachers don't resist change, the author suggests, they resist programs that call for change without support. This Topeka, Kan., program added full-time instructional coaches to middle schools and found that teachers, with the coaches' support and time, adopted new practices that affected student learning.