Improvement Coaching Community of Practice

A space designed for improvement coaches working in education, especially those supporting teams engaged in continuous improvement.

“Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

-Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder (2002)

The combination of three elements constitutes a community of practice:

  1. domain - a shared area of interest or expertise that members are passionate about;

  2. community - a network of people who interact, collaborate, and learn together; and

  3. practice - a set of shared resources, experiences, tools, and knowledge that members develop over time.

Why join this Community of Practice?

Few spaces exist for improvement coaches in education to connect around their practice. In response, this Community of Practice brings together improvement coaches in education who support teams engaged in improvement science to learn with and from each other. Across eight interactive virtual sessions, participants will engage in scenario-based simulations, structured reflection, and collaborative learning focused on common coaching dilemmas. The four categories of common coaching dilemmas emerged from research conducted by the facilitators into the work of improvement coaches.

Sessions will include

  • Peer consultation and reflective exercises around own coaching practice

  • Scenario-based discussions around real education coaching dilemmas

  • Protocols and tools to analyze dilemmas and identify actions

  • Resource sharing across a growing coaching network

Additional details about the sessions are available here.

The Community Facilitators - Edit Khachatryan & Barbara Shreve

Separately and together, we have coached numerous improvement efforts and value spaces to discuss our practice. Jointly, we have authored two pieces that serve as the foundation for this CoP, along with several courses we’ve taught together on this topic. The empirical piece “Coaching for Improvement” chapter can be found in the edited book Continuous Improvement: A Leadership Process for School Improvement. A companion practical piece “An Improvement Coaching Casebook and Discussion Guide” can be found here. 

Dates and Times

8 Second Fridays | September 2025 - April 2026 | 12:00-2:00pm Pacific Time

2025: September 12, October 10, November 14, December 12

2026: January 9, February 13, March 13, April 10

Cost

$695