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Coaching without a context bars schools and districts from experiencing their full potential for instructional improvement. Successful coaching initiatives clearly articulate the roles and expectations of coaching, the expertise coaches need, how coaching relates to the overall shared vision of a school or district, and the fact that professional inquiry is valued and generative across all job levels....

Have you ever found yourself challenged in the classroom -- wishing you could turn to someone immediately for a guiding hand or an encouraging word? As a practicing teacher, I did. In part, that's why I worked collaboratively to research and develop virtual coaching.

Founded in 1943, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. Our 175,000 members in 119 countries are professional educators from all levels and subject areas--superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members.

"In this issue's lead article, Bob Tschannen-Moran and Megan Tschannen-Moran ("The Coach and the Evaluator", p. 10) decry the approach of connecting teacher evaluation with efforts to help teachers grow and improve through a coaching cycle. They call into question such common administrator practices as using coaching to help a teacher achieve specific improvement goals. Although such practices are well-meaning, the Tschannen-Morans claim, they "typically generate little growth… Power struggles, rather than cooperative efforts…often ensue."