Who knows

I have some questions about teachers, teaching, and the burden of accountability. How personal is a teacher's practice? How individualized is instruction for each child? If the general public is supporting public schools, how can schools justify inconsistencies from lesson to lesson, classroom to classroom, and school to school? How much does the public know about what's happening in their schools?

I think coaches are an interesting link between public policy and the district and individual teachers and their teaching practices. Coaches can peer into multiple classrooms, determine what's going on, and maybe change things or encourage things, or bring back some information about implementation. Coaches deal with multiple pressures, from multiple sources, and juggle many teachers. Coaches may or many not reduce inconsistencies. What do coaches need to know- about instruction, about individual teachers, about the context of the school, about the nature of the policy- to fulfill their role? Do coaches have access to the information they need? Why or why not? Who could have the knowledge and capacity to change teachers' instructional practices?