Prior Knowledge

One of my colleagues stressed that “teachers need to know what the student’s prior knowledge is so they can understand at what point the student is at in the learning process.” There was little disagreement on that issue, what followed was just an engaging conversation of strategies to determine student’s prior knowledge.

Then I began to wonder what support would look like if coaches determined a teacher’s prior knowledge. Coaches should not assume the teachers that they are supporting are lacking in knowledge or skills, when their barriers just might be experience. As part of the coaching process, what strategies have you used to determine a teacher’s prior knowledge?