Instructional coach initiatives aimed at teachers' professional development are expanding in reforming school districts across the United States. This study addresses the lack of research regarding the professional development of instructional coaches. Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, specifically a model called the Vygotsky Space, the authors use a case approach to examine the learning experiences of a single secondary literacy coach. Hypotheses suggest that (a) coaches are not unproblematic conduits of reform ideas but are also learners of new content and pedagogy; (b) as coaches' conceptual development about instruction grows, their ability to coach also matures; and (c) professional development that supports coaches is best aligned around a workplace pedagogy that addresses the learning needs of multiple system actors.

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Ever-growing expectations exist for educators to use assessments to collect, analyze, and interpret data, but how, if at all, are these processes affecting instruction? This descriptive case study of one team of second grade teachers offers an analysis of the links between teachers’ use of data within their collaborative team meetings and instructional decisions in the classroom Findings illustrate three activities that linked teacher discussions and instruction in classrooms: troubleshooting and normalizing expectations, targeting instruction, and identifying what worked While these links tightly coupled teachers collaborative use of data and assessments with their classroom instruction, they did so by prioritizing isolated instructional responses focused on discrete skills and specific instructional strategies. Implications include building structures that reframe what teachers mean by “worked” when inquiring into student learning.