Schools often adopt formal coaching models that outline cycles of observation, feedback, goal setting, and reflection. These frameworks matter. They provide structure and establish the mindset needed for productive professional learning. What receives far less attention, however, are the actual skills adults need to coach teachers effectively. Without well-developed coaching skills, even strong coaching models can devolve into advice giving, compliance monitoring, or superficial reflection.
Therefore, we set out to identify the most essential skills a coach needs to be successful. To do so, we obtained feedback from more than 1,000 educators, instructional leaders, and coaches across multiple rounds of review using a delphi method, a structured process for gathering and refining the opinions of a group of experts.
We began with an initial list of 96 potential coaching skills drawn from research, professional literature, and practitioner expertise. Through iterative rounds of rating, feedback, refinement, and consensus building, we combined, revised, or removed skills based on participant responses. The end result was 18 specific instructional coaching skills.
Four Skill Categories for Coaches
By the third round of the process, we were able to organize the 18 skills into broader categories—Connect, Ground, Engage, and Advance—creating a more coherent framework for understanding the knowledge and abilities required for effective coaching (see fig. 1).
1. Connect
Connect skills focus on establishing trust and psychological safety. When teachers feel respected, heard, and supported, they are more willing to reflect honestly, share challenges, and take instructional risks. Coaches build connection with teachers by listening actively, acknowledging their emotions and perspectives without judgment, affirming their specific strengths, and presuming positive intent. These relational behaviors communicate care, credibility, and partnership, helping teachers experience coaching as supportive rather than evaluative.
2. Ground
Grounding ensures that coaching conversations are anchored in clear, objective evidence rather than opinion or judgment. Effective coaches calibrate expectations with teachers by using shared success criteria and collecting descriptive evidence such as student work, classroom observations, or participation patterns.
Neutral language keeps conversations constructive and reduces teacher defensiveness, while balancing quantitative and qualitative evidence provides a fuller picture of teaching and learning. By grounding feedback in observable reality, coaches increase clarity, strengthen credibility, and help teachers connect instructional decisions to student outcomes.
3. Engage
Engage skills guide teachers through purposeful dialogue and reflection. Rather than dominating the conversation, effective coaches ask clarifying questions, paraphrase teacher ideas, summarize themes, and use intentional pauses that give teachers time to process and reflect deeply. The goal is to enable teachers to analyze evidence and identify next steps themselves. Meaningful professional growth is more likely when teachers actively construct their own understanding rather than simply receive advice.
4. Advance
Advance skills move coaching from reflection into action by helping teachers identify clear, manageable next steps that improve practice and student learning. Effective coaches provide timely, specific, and actionable feedback connected to goals and evidence without overwhelming teachers with too many suggestions. Coaches also monitor progress, ensure follow-through with scheduled check-ins and documentation, and celebrate growth. Advancement transforms coaching into an ongoing cycle of implementation, reflection, and refinement that supports lasting professional growth.
Making Coaching Meaningful
Coaching is often described through frameworks, dispositions, and cycles, but coaching’s effectiveness ultimately depends on the skills enacted within human interaction. The ability for coaches to connect, ground, engage, and advance shapes whether coaching becomes a meaningful source of professional learning or simply another procedural exercise.
Instructional Leadership & Coaching
Defining Coaching Skills
in 5 days
Video Reflection: Test Your Coaching Skills
Watch this video of early-career high school math teacher Jorge Diaz as he establishes learning goals and guides students through concept-building tasks. As you watch, take notes and plan your coaching conversation. Notice the lesson’s strengths, the evidence you would share with him, and the feedback you would provide.
Then log into https://bit.ly/Coaching_SIM for an interactive coaching simulation with the Engaging Digital Narrative Assistant (EDNA), an AI assistant role-playing as Mr. Diaz. EDNA will evaluate your coaching skills and deliver personalized feedback to help develop your skills. Remember, effective coaching is not simply a matter of personality or experience, but of deliberate practice and reflective refinement.
