The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching

by Jim Knight

"Jim Knight is one of the wise men of coaching. His well is deep; he draws from it the best tools from practitioners, the wisdom of experience, and research-based insights. And he never loses sight of the bigger the point of all this is to have more impact in this life we're lucky enough to live."
—MICHAEL BUNGAY STANIER, Author of The Coaching Habit

"Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance. Jim Knight’s work has helped me understand the details of how effective coaching can and should be done."
—DR. ATUL GAWANDE, surgeon, public health researcher, and author of The Checklist Manifesto

Identify . . . Learn . . . Improve

When it comes to improving practice, few professional texts can rival the impact felt by Jim Knight’s Instructional Coaching. For hundreds of thousands of educators, Jim bridged the long-standing divide between staff room and classroom, offering up a much a more collaborative, respectful, and efficient PD model for achieving instructional excellence.

Now, one decade of research and hundreds of in-services later, Jim takes that work a significant step further with The Impact Cycle: an all-new instructional coaching cycle to help teachers and, in turn, their students improve in clear measurable ways.

Quintessential Jim, The Impact Cycle comes loaded with every possible tool to help you reach your coaching goals, starting with a robust checklists and a model Instructional Playbook. Quickly, you’ll learn how to

Interact and dialogue with teachers as partners Guide teachers to identify emotionally compelling, measurable, and student-focused goals Set coaching goals, plan strategies, and monitor progress for optimal impact Use case studies as models to promote maximum teacher clarity and proactive problem solving Streamline teacher enrollment, data collection, and deep listening Jim writes, “When we grow, improve, and learn, when we strive to become a better version of ourselves, we tap into something deep in ourselves that craves that kind of growth.” Listen to The Impact Cycle and soon you’ll discover how you can continually refine your practice to help teachers and students realize their fullest potential.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development, Leadership, School, Grad School

Audible Audio

Published March 30, 2023

Reviews

[Jenni Geli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coaching 101. With a narrowed focus on dialogical coaching.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide for instructional coaches.

[Aidan Busch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overwhelmingly practical. One of those books that is so densely packed with pragmatic and helpful tips that it is almost too much. I feel like it will be a long time before I’m able to fully use this well.

[Gabriela Baguley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for graduate school! Definitely a book I’ll be referring back to and using for its instructional resources.

[Scott Harrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim's latest book provides a nice synthesis of his previous work. His ability simplify a complex process into clear, concise actionable steps proves invaluable. The QR codes to high-quality video clips to see each step "in action" contributed greatly to my learning. His newest book will be out primer for training Instructional Coaches in our district in the coming years. Thanks, Jim!

[Tammy Westrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I picked up some great nuggets in this book like ensuring goals are clear and attainable (I LOVE PEERS!), the powerful use of video and the importance of coaches building trusting relationships with teachers, I struggled with the approach and terminology. Although the intended message, I believe, is that teachers will be in charge of the coaching that occurs between the teacher and coach, the end-result, and a descriptor of one of the steps in the Impact Cycle, is to 'improve' teacher practice. I think the use of that term communicates the type of collaboration that will occur, as do many of the examples from the text (e.g., collecting evidence of time on task, etc.) and tools that look like they might have been lifted from an administrator's toolbox. I would have appreciated more examples of how 'learning' was improved through the process. While not all of the ideas and messages shared in this book align with my philosophy around coaching, I'm glad that I read this book to add strategies to my coaching repertoire and give me a different perspective on coaching.

[Michael Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative, practical guide to a potentially effective method for instructional coaching. More than that, this book reminds me that providing instructional coaching services is about empathy, listening, partnering, all to ultimately help my colleagues become even more powerful teachers. I gel with Knight's implicit, and sometimes explicit, posture for servant leadership. I am already finding ways to incorporate these lessons.

[Ali Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very surprised that this kept my attention as it was a professional read.
I did learn a lot from it. The author was very informative and told personal stories throughout that helped it not read like a textbook.
I really appreciated the QR codes that took you to videos throughout that let you see the coaching in person.
Impact Cycle should be a must read for all seeking to become an administer in the educational profession.

[Creighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, this was really, really good. There are tons of great resources (like 100 pages of them!) and lots of great checklists and questions to ask yourself and others to improve your instruction. I plan on keeping this book and referencing it throughout my career. I'm even using the student interview questions it posed tomorrow with my students! I'd recommend this book, and I'm glad I read it as part of my Master's program.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful explanation for why instructional coaches must develop a relationship of mutual trust for successful collaboration. I liked the progression from Identify to Learn to Improve. His instruction is complex in its simplicity. Jim Knight's book coupled w/Diane Sweeney's provides a practical guide for the instructional coach.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about the impact cycle. I am a coach at three different elementary schools and I know that I can apply some of the things I learned immediately! Sometimes coaching books can make you feel like you aren't doing enough. This book just gave me a lot of good ideas and made me feel like I can keep growing into this job.

[Candace Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has some solid resources (books, strategies, mindset shifts) but it also has some someone esoteric or niche bits of semantics; they really preach the impact cycle, which is fine, but it’s almost to the expense of talking about other aspects of teaching. I do appreciate the author’s emphasis on listening and the toolkit in the back!

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for all coaches, but also for school leaders and teachers. I particularly liked the checklist section at the back that dives into various high-impact teaching strategies! I love me a good checklist.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really happy I purchased this book and finally got around to finishing it. There are a lot of things in here I wish I'd discovered earlier, but I know that I probably wouldn't have put into place right away.

[Leanna Aker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of the coaching process, with lots of great ideas for data collection and extra references for whenever you want to learn more. This is more of a technical approach to coaching, and doesn't heavily focus on the relationship and trust aspects necessary for coaching.

[Vince Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would highly recommend for any school/district that utilizes instructional coaches. They’re an incredibly powerful resource that are also easy to misuse without the correct approach; Dr. Knight provides research, guidance, and tools that show how to improve continuously and maximize impact.

[Sbwisni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professional read. Some good coaching tips, strategies, and tools, but not sure about wholesale coaching framework within systems that don’t have coaching already built into the workplace culture. Still a good one to revisit every now and then.

[Melynee Naegele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content was quality. There was a point in which the content became very redundant. Also, there are places where I feel like the advice and best practices for coaching are inconsistent and contradictory to the teaching practices modeled.

[Andrea Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's practical, instructive, a good coaching guide!

[Nikki Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, applicable and motivating. This is probably the best instructional coaching book I have ever read.

[Andrew Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational hero. Best book around for educational, instructional coaching.

[Michelle Love-Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and easy understanding of what the role of coaches should be.The QR codes with videos are very helpful.

[Rod Naquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super-quality book! Trying to up my classroom observation game. Setting a #Practice goal of clarifying my own process for classroom visits in the spring--doing 1-3 a day at least.

[Robbie Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for leaders of teaching

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super informative - a great resource for coaches.

[Joni Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the best audiobook, but great information for instructional coaching.

[Jessica Gebauer]

Nicole - Principal at HS

[Srosch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource, great focus for instructional coaching

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for an instructional coaching endorsement.

[Dave Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent combination of content and practical resources to support instructional coaching in schools.