Corbin ISD was one of ten sites in rural Kentucky’s Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative (SESC) region participating in NTC’s federal Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant, Catalyzing Innovations in Teacher Leader Development in Rural and Urban Settings.

Prior to NTC’s partnership, Corbin ISD did not have coaching staff or an infrastructure for job-embedded professional learning and teacher support. We worked with district leaders to establish a clear vision and approach for building a cost-effective and sustainable coaching program.

Beginning with one staff member participating in NTC coaching training offered through SESC, the district now has 22 trained coaches providing teacher support across the district, resulting in what staff describe as a system-wide “culture of coaching.” The district’s goal is to continue to scale coaching capacity to reach all teachers through professional learning communities (PLCs). District staff report significant improvement in state working conditions survey results and a positive impact on teacher practice and student learning.