Pennsylvania Institute for Instructional Coaching (PIIC)

PIIC, a partnership of the Annenberg Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), is a statewide resource for developing and supporting consistent, high-quality instructional coaching in Pennsylvania schools.

PIIC provides an infrastructure of training and resources by offering:

  • An ongoing program of study on instructional coaching, mentoring, and teacher professional development.

  • Online resources for mentors and coaches, including toolkits, guides, and training curricula. • Materials and training for school leaders to build their capacity to support coaching.

  • Specific training, as appropriate, in the Penn Literacy Network’s evidenced-based strategies for developing reading, writing, and comprehension skills across the curriculum.

  • Research and evaluation to analyze the effectiveness of instructional coaching and gather data to support continuous improvement. A hallmark of the PIIC approach is the PIIC Mentor.

Each IU has an instructional coaching mentor. Mentors collaborate with coaches, teachers, and school leadership to:

  • Provide support for coaches individually and in groups, on-site or by email and videoconferencing.

  • Create a “coaching community” within the IU.

  • Participate in PIIC training to expand their instructional coaching knowledge and skills. • Organize a variety of professional development activities for coaches and other school staff.