I am so excited to be writing this blog post today.
I’m writing this on January 1, 2026, and this is my declaration and promise for the year ahead.
2025 taught me so many lessons and revelations about the state of education and it is exactly why I am walking into 2026 with a mission.
The team and I have been planning this announcement for months. We took an honest look at where coaching is right now, where coaching needs to be, what is happening in classrooms across the country, and what it will take to create real support that leads to real change.
THE MISSION: Train 10,000 instructional coaches in the Simple CoachPath™ Framework by December 2028.
And we are starting today!
Why is the mission to train Instructional Coaches so urgent?
I was scrolling LinkedIn the other day and came across a post with numbers about teacher turnover that stopped me in my tracks. The graphic below says that about 1 in 6 teachers leave their school or the profession every year. It also says that in high-poverty and urban schools (the type of schools I’ve worked in for 18+ years), annual turnover often reaches 20 to 30 percent. Nearly half of turnover happens within the first five years.
The line that hit me hardest was this…
The primary drivers are not a lack of talent. They include working conditions such as insufficient administrative support, excessive workload, student behavioral challenges, and limited professional autonomy.
Those numbers confirmed what so many of us already feel.
Teachers are not leaving because they cannot do the work. They are leaving because the conditions make it hard to keep doing the work.
And THIS IS WHERE INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING MATTERS!
When an instructional coach is trained, supported, and clear on how to do the work, they become one of the strongest supports a teacher can have inside a building. They are no longer seen as a compliance person, an extra set of hands, or just someone who only runs coaching cycles. They are seen as a real instructional partner who helps teachers simplify their practice, strengthen instruction, and feel capable again.
That is why 10,000 coaches.
Because 10,000 well trained coaches means thousands of schools where teachers experience stronger support, clearer systems, and more consistent growth. It means fewer teachers carrying everything alone. It means more teachers staying long enough to get great at the craft. It means students learning in classrooms led by confident educators who feel supported.
The Myth: Instructional Coaching Equals Coaching Cycles
When I travel and work with schools across the country, I keep noticing something that honestly bothers me.
It is not one specific district. It is not one specific state.
It is a pattern.
Somewhere along the way, a lot of schools turned instructional coaching into a single idea.
Coaching cycles.
If you are an instructional coach, you have probably felt the pressure to “just run cycles” as if cycles are the whole job.
Some Superintendents and Coaching Leaders have set weekly, monthly, or even quarterly coaching-cycle quotas for instructional coaches.
YES, Coaching Cycles can be helpful, but cycles are not the definition of instructional coaching.
Instructional coaching includes:
- Role clarity and a protected scope of work
- Trust building and teacher engagement
- Strategy selection and modeling
- Practice, feedback, and reflection
- Implementation support that continues after the meeting
- Data that helps coaches and teachers see growth
A cycle is a structure.
Coaching is the work.
Why Instructional Coaches Need Professional Development Training and Not Just Responsibilities?
Many instructional coaches were never trained for the role they were hired to do.
They are given a title, a calendar invite, and an expectation to “support teachers,” then left to figure out the work alone.
They try to do everything for everyone. They get pulled into testing, behavior, sub coverage, paperwork, meetings, and urgent needs.
And when coaching feels messy or unclear, people default to coaching cycles because they’re easy to measure.
But coaches do not need more pressure.
They need a clear framework and a simple system that helps them coach with confidence.
The Problem with One and Done Professional Development
Pop-up PD (or one-off workshop or training) leaves educators with good ideas but no support to implement them.
The workshop ends. The binder goes on the shelf. The school moves on to the next initiative.
Instructional coaches and teachers are left to figure out implementation on their own.
This is one of the reasons coaching cycles do not lead to lasting change by themselves.
Because implementation is the hard part.
Even the research has been telling us this for years. Joyce and Showers’ work on training transfer is often summarized like this. Workshops alone lead to very little implementation. When training is reinforced with coaching support, implementation rates rise dramatically, often cited at 80-90 percent.
In other words, support during implementation is what moves learning into real change.
The Simple CoachPath™: A Framework for Instructional Coaching beyond Coaching Cycles
The Simple CoachPath is a practical instructional coaching framework designed to help coaches do the work with clarity, consistency, and impact.
It focuses on the pieces that determine whether coaching works in real schools:
- Role Clarity
- Coach Organization
- Coaching Practice
- Instructional Impact
- A usable strategy playbook
- Implementation support over time
- Growth and Impact tracking
The goal is not to create more meetings.
The goal is to build a coaching practice that changes what happens in classrooms.
Where does the Simple CoachPath™ Training Happen?
The Simple CoachPath training happens inside the Simply Coaching Lab.
The Lab is built around training plus implementation support.
When you enroll in the Lab, you will:
First, join an onboarding call: You will feel grounded and clear on what to do first.
Next, you will attend a two-day virtual CoachPath training session: 3 hours per day, designed to fit your coaching schedule while in the building.
Next, you will build your Individual Growth Sprint: your personal professional development plan aligned with your coaching focus.
Finally, you will implement with support: You have the option to join weekly coaching calls facilitated by coaches who have been in your shoes. You also have a supportive community and resources to help you apply the work, not just learn it.
This is how we move past coaching cycles as the whole job.
We train coaches.
We support implementation.
We help coaches build a practice that lasts.
Will You Join the mission?
If you are an instructional coach, a coach leader, a principal, or a district leader supporting coaching, I want to invite you into this mission personally.
The way you join is simple.
Join the Simply Coaching Lab.
Inside the Lab, you will become a trained instructional coach through the Simple CoachPath™. You will start with an onboarding call, attend the two day virtual CoachPath training, and build your Individual Growth Sprint so you can implement the work with real support.
You can enroll in the Lab for just $1 today.
If you are ready to be supported, get clear, and build a coaching practice that creates real impact, come with us.
Be one of the 10,000 coaches.
Join the Lab HERE today!
Nicole S. Turner
FAQ Section
What is instructional coaching?
Instructional coaching is job embedded professional learning that helps teachers strengthen instruction through strategies, modeling, feedback, reflection, and implementation support over time.
What is a coaching cycle in instructional coaching?
A coaching cycle is a structured process for coaching a teacher through a goal, typically including planning, implementation, and reflection. Coaching cycles are a tool within instructional coaching but they are not the full scope of coaching.
Is instructional coaching more than coaching cycles?
Yes. Instructional coaching includes role clarity, trust building, strategy support, modeling, practice, feedback, implementation support, and measuring growth. Coaching cycles are one structure within that broader work.
What is the Simple CoachPath™?
The Simple CoachPath™ is a practical coaching framework and training that helps instructional coaches build role clarity, trust, strategy support, and implementation systems that lead to teacher growth and classroom impact.
What is the Simply Coaching Lab?
The Simply Coaching Lab is the training and support hub where coaches complete the Simple CoachPath training, build an Individual Growth Sprint, and receive implementation support through coaching calls, community, and resources.
Why do one-time workshops fail?
One time workshops often lead to low implementation because educators need follow up support, feedback, practice, and coaching to transfer learning into day to day work.
