The role of an academic coach is crucial for teacher development and, ultimately, student success. However, coaches often find themselves pulled in multiple directions, performing tasks that detract from their core mission.

At the 2025 Coaching for Change Conference, a team of instructional coaches from DeKalb County Schools used the metaphor of “blowing the whistle” to explore what happens when instructional coaches step in to pause, redirect and refocus on the parts of their job that actually support their teachers. Their session provided an honest look at when instructional coaches are pulled in the wrong direction and how they can get back on track.

Defining the Coach’s Game: Managing the Work Effectively

One of the foundational steps in optimizing the coach’s role is a clear understanding of their daily tasks and responsibilities. In the session, the DeKalb team encouraged coaches to reflect on their typical workday and jot down every task on Post-its, one task per Post-it note. At the end of the exercise, the attendees were surrounded by Post-its, showing just how many different things they do each day.

Yet, the exercise wasn’t done. The presenters wanted everyone to see not just how much they do, but how much they do that is not aligned with the coach’s primary objective of directly impacting teacher instruction.

 Attendees were then tasked with figuring out how much they’re doing outside of their job function by distinguishing core coaching responsibilities from “errors” or “other” duties.

An effective coach’s time should ideally be allocated according to a specific “pie chart”:

• 80% of coaches’ time should be dedicated to things that directly impact teacher instruction. This is the core of their work.
• 15% can be allocated to collaborative planning.
• No more than 5% should be spent on “other” duties. This category includes miscellaneous tasks like documentation, random meetings or unexpected events like fire drills.

Tasks that fall outside the 80/15/5 breakdown are considered errors or miscues.

Examples of such errors that often derail coaches include:

• Excessive duty tasks: Coaches should not be burdened with all lunch duty, morning duty or bus duty. If they are covering these, it means an entire block of time is lost for instructional support.
• Administrative tasks: Serving as a custodian, principal or material handler are not typical coaching responsibilities.
• Substitute or department chair roles: Coaches inadvertently taking on covering classes or managing departments.
• Test administration: This is explicitly identified as an error, as it can sideline a coach for weeks or even an entire semester, preventing them from providing instructional support.
• Planning field trips or managing Title I paperwork: These are not direct instructional support roles.
• Tech support: While important, it’s not a primary coaching function.

Coaches in attendance of the session were asked to put the tasks that fell in that first 80% category (teacher support) onto a placemat and everything else onto a cone beside the placemat.

By identifying and removing these errors, coaches can shift their focus back to high-leverage activities. The recommendation is to prioritize the tasks on the placemat (core coaching duties) and minimize time spent on the cone tasks (errors).

Tiered Support: Tailoring Coaching to Teacher Needs

Once you recognize where you are losing time outside of your main coaching duties, you can refocus and re-prioritize the important work that you do. Similarly to our last post in this series, just as scholars received tiered support in the classroom, teachers require a differentiated approach to coaching. To help with this, the DeKalb team offered a four-tiered system of support, mirroring the Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework, or MTSA, used to determine the level and frequency of coaching.

The process begins with identifying which tier a teacher is at through classroom observations and providing quality feedback.

The four tiers are defined by the intensity and frequency of coaching support:

• Tier 1 (Supplemental): These teachers are largely on track and just need a little support to move instruction forward.
• Tier 2 (Modified): These teachers are on the right track but some processes need some tweaking. Coaching might occur every other week, involving quick coaching, thorough questioning and lesson plan review.
• Tier 3 (Intensive): Something significant is happening here, requiring more frequent support, potentially once a week. The coach needs to be in the classroom providing direct instructional support.
• Tier 4 (Most Intensive): These teachers require support two to three times a week. This level of support is crucial when a teacher is struggling significantly.

Several factors are considered when tiering teachers, including the following:

• Skill and will: Does the teacher have the necessary skills, the willingness or both?
• Number of new teachers: Does the school have many new teachers, or those seasoned in other careers but new to pedagogy, who may require more intensive support?
• Continuous school improvement goals: How can you align this with broader school objectives?
• District core initiatives: How can you align this with district-wide priorities?
• Student Data: What does the student data say? A clear indicator of whether a teacher needs more frequent intervention. If student data isn’t moving, it suggests a need for more support, even if the teacher was previously in a different tier.

A key insight is that even a Tier 1 teacher can suddenly require Tier 4 support if they encounter a specific instructional challenge, like a particular teaching model (such as the CRA model).

To go along with the coaching analogy, think of this as creating your game play and assigning positions on the team. Now, it’s time to start working through that plan by looking at the coaching process.

The Coaching Process

The DeKalb team made clear that coaching cannot be viewed as a reactive or siloed activity. Instead, it must be part of a larger instructional system — one that includes consistent expectations, common language and ongoing support for both teachers and leaders.

The coaches described how they regularly visit classrooms, co-plan with teachers and use walkthrough protocols aligned to their district’s instructional framework.

They emphasized the importance of using those tools consistently across campuses. The coaching process includes analyzing student work, checking alignment between standards and tasks, and ensuring that the cognitive demand placed on students matches the intended outcomes.

DeKalb coaches are not passive observers. They are engaged collaborators who help build and sustain instructional coherence at both the school and district level.

With this insight into the coaching playbook, the DeKalb team then moved on to discuss a very difficult part of the coaching role, and the main focus of the session: when the coach needs to “blow the whistle” on their “players.”

A Call to Stay Engaged

Throughout the session, the DeKalb team returned to the theme of active engagement. Coaches should not be bystanders. They must participate in the instructional life of the school, be willing to ask tough questions and help teachers navigate complexity.

However, they should also watch that they are not stretched too thin. If you notice that the coaches in your school are being asked to do too many things outside of their job description, that is the time to “blow the whistle” and go back to the playbook.

Coaching, in this model, is not about catching errors or pointing out problems. It’s about identifying moments that matter — moments where a well-timed pause or a gentle course correction can help a teacher grow and a student thrive.

However, to do that, an instructional coach needs to focus on the thing they do best: support and coach teachers and leaders in the school. 

The DeKalb team’s message was clear: when coaches show up consistently, respond to evidence and support teachers with intention, they build more than skill — they build capacity.

More From the DeKalb County Team

If you want more insights from DeKalb, check out these resources:

• Our earlier blog post in this series on increasing impact in schools
• Our podcast episode on how DeKalb County manages coaching

For more tips and ideas like these, make sure you sign up for our Promising Practices Newsletter and subscribe to our Class-Act Coaching podcast, available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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