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Coaching for Impact, Not Activity with Donna Spangler

#coachbetter

Release Date: 10/07/2025

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In this #coachbetter episode Kim talks with Donna Spangler, who spent the majority of her career working in US public schools as a teacher, then coach, then chair of a team of coaches, then assistant principal and president of her teacher’s union. She also served as President of the Pennslyvania chapter of Learning Forward, and now works as a coach through Sibme and Executive Director of Edjacent, which is a company that supports educators and change makers. All of these experiences center around Donna’s passion for professional learning for adults, and this episode focuses on one of her key areas of expertise: coaching for impact (not activity). 

In this episode Donna and Kim talk about: 

  • what makes coaching so impactful for schools

  • How coaches create meaningful change in teachers’ instruction and positively impact the school building and system

  • the difference between measuring coaching impact vs coaching activity and why coaching impact is so important

  • Why coaches might consider creating a coaching impact report

  • How can coaches can ensure they are retaining focus on impact - rather than activity, especially when they might feel pressure to demonstrate "activity"

  • How coaches can create sustainable structures for ongoing data collection. 

  • the systems and structures need to be in place for international schools who are building coaching programs

  • the common pitfalls that schools (and school leaders) often fall into when building coaching programs


This episode is a GOLD MINE of practical advice and strategies for instructional coaches who not only want to make an impact but want to be able to document and share that impact with others. 

A Coaching for Impact Mini-Guide (for this episode by Donna Spangler)

Find the show notes for this episode here.

Like this episode, you’ll enjoy this:

The Importance of Measuring Your Impact as an Instructional Coach

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