“Fast-Track Coaching

for LEADERS WHO COACH” 

with Jim Knight

January 26, 2027

8:30 AM – 3:00 PM

Medinah Shrine Center

550 Shriners Drive

Addison, IL 60101

co-sponsored by Midwest Principals’ Center & PD365

Coaching can be one of the most powerful tools for creating meaningful change—but finding the time to do it well is often the greatest challenge. Building a strong coaching culture doesn’t happen in a single conversation or through a one-time workshop. Meaningful growth requires ongoing support, reflection, and purposeful conversations. Yet, for principals, instructional coaches, and other school leaders, the demands of the day often leave little time for the kind of coaching that truly makes a difference. Join Jim Knight for a day of practical learning focused on Fast-Track Instructional Coaching—an approach designed to help leaders provide meaningful coaching and support in less time. Participants will explore four focused coaching conversations that can accelerate growth, strengthen relationships, and move individuals and teams toward meaningful change. Jim will share proven frameworks, practical strategies, and effective tools—including ways AI can streamline and accelerate parts of the coaching process—so leaders can spend less time managing the process and more time supporting people. Discover how your school or district can become a place where educators feel supported, trusted, and empowered to grow—even when time is in short supply.

Key Takeaways

Participants will:

• Understand how ongoing coaching supports meaningful and sustainable change.
• Explore the four focused conversations of Fast-Track Instructional Coaching.
• Learn practical strategies for making coaching more efficient, focused, and impactful.
• Identify ways AI and other tools can accelerate the coaching process and help leaders provide effective support in less time.
• Gain ideas they can immediately apply to strengthen coaching in their schools and districts.

Who Should Attend?

This session is for anyone who believes in the power of coaching—but struggles to find the time to make it happen.
Ideal for:

• Instructional Coaches
• Principals
• Assistant Principals
• Department Chairs
• District Leaders
• Other educational leaders who coach and support the growth of others

About the Presenter:

Jim Knight is Senior Partner of the Instructional Coaching Group and a Research Associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. For more than two decades, he has studied instructional coaching and professional learning, becoming one of the leading voices internationally in the field of instructional coaching. He recently launched the Jim Knight Impact Network which provides practical tools, meaningful support, and a community that helps leaders focus on the conversations and partnerships that matter most for students. Jim regularly presents and consults internationally, leading workshops, institutes, and keynote presentations across the United States and around the world. Jim has authored numerous influential books and articles on instructional coaching, leadership, and effective teaching practice. The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching, Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach to Dramatically Improving Instruction, and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success are considered seminal texts in the field. His newest book, Schools that Coach, will be released in October 2026.