Teacher coaching could transform professional development and school improvement, according to a new discussion paper launched at the Confederation of School Trusts' Directors of Improvement conference.

The co-published paper, Leveraging Trust Capacity to Deliver Effective Professional Development, developed with Josh Goodrich and Claire Hill from Steplab, examines the barriers to effective professional development and how school trusts can overcome them.

Steplab Chief Executive Josh Goodrich said: "There is a strong case for trust leaders to prioritise high quality teacher learning as a mechanism for school improvement. To do so, leaders require an understanding of the barriers to teacher learning and how to overcome them. This paper outlines why coaching may be the best solution to overcoming the barriers to teacher learning."

CST Deputy Chief Executive and conference chair Steve Rollett said: "This paper is an important contribution to school trusts' work to support the development of effective teaching. Across the conference speakers and delegates have shared a wealth of useful and practical information that can help their trusts – together this community is building knowledge about trust-led school improvement."

Read Leveraging Trust Capacity to Deliver Effective Professional Development