The Educational Coaching Network (ECN) connects educators who want to learn, collaborate, and problem solve in areas related to Instructional Coaching. Northwestern's ECN offers various intensive and one-day training from internationally known experts and local leaders to build skills, extend learning and develop expertise. School coaches and coaching leaders also will have opportunities to learn from one another. The Educational Coaching Network's commitment to Instructional Coaching reflects the knowledge that student achievement can be positively impacted when effective coaching programs and practices are implemented. ECN is privileged to support this success!
Note: All events for 2020-21 will be held remotely.
Current Network Offerings
2020-21

Learning From the Past; Looking to the Future
May 4, 2021
Over the past year, we’ve been through quite a bit: A pandemic that has exposed social inequities, a reckoning that focused the nation on racial inequality and injustice, and an insurrection that threatened the possibility of democracy. Thus, as we reopen our schools in the fall, the need to approach educational equity the right way is more important than ever. To that end, this workshop will support you. Dr. Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple will help participants use an approach that centers belonging and dignity to prepare for starting next school year in a manner that lays the foundation for equity and inclusion.
Learn more about Learning From the Past; Looking to the Future
How to Get Equity Implementation Right This Time
October 22, 2020
During the summer of 2020, racial inequality and injustice have captured the world’s attention, however most schools and districts seeking to “do something” are poised to fail (again) with equity implementation. Big time. Why? Because there exists a predictable cycle of failure, which includes experiencing a catalyst, committing to equity, fumbling around with implementation, and upholding the inequitable status quo until the next catalyst occurs. In this one-day workshop with Dr. Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple, participants will learn about this dysfunctional cycle and what they can do to disrupt it through successful equity implementation.
Learn more about How to Get Equity Implementation Right This Time
Belonging and Dignity: The Keys to Educational Equity
(postponed to 2021-22)
This institute with Dr. Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple includes six sessions, January through April. Through a transformative journey that moves from awareness to action, educators learn to co-create healthy cultures that honor dignity and nurture belonging on all levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, and structural. Participants will walk away knowing exactly what it takes to champion equity by coaching, teaching, leading, and generally interacting with and for dignity. Participants must commit to all six days.

Jim Knight Basic-Intermediate Coaching Institute 2020-21
Oct. 14, 2020 - March 3, 2021
This institute includes six full-day sessions, October through March. Jim Knight, Senior Partner of ICG, is a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than a decade studying instructional coaching, writing several books on the topic. His latest is The Impact Cycle. Jim’s articles on instructional coaching have been included in publications such as The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, and Teachers Teaching Teachers. Jim directs several research projects, including Pathways to Success, a comprehensive, district-wide school reform project in the Topeka, Kansas, School District. Jim also leads the coaching institutes and the Teaching, Learning, Coaching annual conference. Jim has presented and consulted in more than 40 states, most Canadian provinces, and around the world. He has also won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards.
Learn more about Jim Knight Instructional Basic-Intermediate Coaching Institute
Advanced Coaching and Leadership Practices
with Jim Knight
(postponed to 2021-22)
This advanced workshop includes four full-day sessions, February through May. It targets those who have already worked with Jim, either through a previous ECN Instructional Coaching Institute at Northwestern or through a five-day training program at the University of Kansas.

The Administrator's Academy: Understanding and Supporting Instructional Coaching: A Toolkit for Administrators
(Summer 2021)
The Administrator's Academy is co-hosted with the Illinois Principals Association (IPA). School leaders will identify and analyze the multiple roles an instructional coach can play within an instructional framework; evaluate the need and impact of an instructional coaching program; analyze and evaluate the district’s instructional needs for integration and supportive planning for instructional coaching; and assess and analyze the style of leadership in a school where coaching is part of the culture.