When teachers receive instructional coaching, the quality of their instruction improves enough to also lead to gains in student achievement, years of research show.
But there鈥檚 a catch, a new analysis found: Larger coaching programs are less effective than smaller ones. So how can coaching be brought to scale while remaining effective?
The analysis, , was conducted by researchers Matthew A. Kraft and David Blazar. The researchers analyzed 60 studies on teacher coaching鈥攁ll were randomized controlled trials and all focused on students鈥� standardized test scores and measures of teachers鈥� instructional practice as rated by outside observers.
They found that instructional coaching improves both instructional practice and student achievement鈥攎ore so than other professional development and school-based interventions. In fact, the quality of teachers鈥� instruction improves by as much as鈥攐r even more than鈥攖he difference in effectiveness between a new teacher and one with five to 10 years of experience, the research shows.
鈥淭eacher coaching as a professional-development practice has expanded rapidly over the last two decades,鈥� said Kraft, who is an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University. In the 2015-16 school year, 27 percent of public schools had a reading coach, 18 percent had a math coach, and 24 percent had a general instructional coach.
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But the researchers found that the effectiveness of the coaching program declines as the number of teachers involved increases.
鈥淚t鈥檚 often the case that when coaching is taken to scale, the challenges of recruiting and developing and supporting a larger staff of coaches is hard for districts to do,鈥� Kraft said. 鈥淔inancial constraints for what, at the end of the day, is a very resource intensive form of professional development causes districts to make adjustments that ... often weaken the intensity of the coaching.鈥�
Districts have to recruit and train effective coaches. While Kraft said there鈥檚 no strong empirical evidence on what characteristics predict coach effectiveness, experts have some guesses. Being able to build relationships with teachers, understanding good teaching practices, and knowing how to use data are some of the skills associated with effective coaches, , which helps districts implement coaching and induction programs.
But teachers also have to be open to feedback and be willing to adjust their practice in order for coaching to work. Kraft said that one of the downfalls of taking coaching programs to scale is expanding into schools where 鈥渢he culture and climate doesn鈥檛 support the work of coaching.鈥�
See also: Instructional Coaches Get Specialized Training
In order to scale up this form of PD while maintaining the full positive effects on student achievement, the analysis urged school leaders to seek teacher buy in, as well as maintain focus on the quality of the coaches.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to cut corners financially and maintain quality in teacher professional-development programs,鈥� Kraft said. Since coaching is so expensive鈥攖here are large personnel costs involved鈥攄istricts have to consider how they鈥檙e spending their PD dollars and perhaps reallocate some money to scaling up coaching programs, Kraft said.
Districts should also leverage technology to take advantage of virtual coaching, he said. The research found there was little difference in the effectiveness of coaching programs delivered online versus face-to-face.
Teachers could film their classroom practice and then discuss with a coach who 鈥渃ould be located anywhere,鈥� Kraft said. This cuts down on commuting costs and broadens districts鈥� access to expertise in different subjects and grade levels. (This solution has become popular among rural districts in particular.)
It鈥檚 important to note that even the larger coaching programs had 鈥渕eaningful and statistically significant鈥� impacts on student achievement, Kraft said.
鈥淐oaching programs still have potential to improve practice in a way that many teacher professional-development programs have failed to do so,鈥� he said.
Image: Sue Grabe, left, an induction coach from Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, takes notes while Kristin Weis teaches a reading lesson in her 1st grade classroom at North Bend Elementary School in North Liberty, Iowa. 鈥擫iz Martin for Education Week/File
Chart via Education Next