Investigating the Efficacy and Sustainability of Instructional Coaching on Teacher Pedagogy

Abstract

Identifying value-added models and measures of instructional coaching are increasingly important with renewed focus on improving teacher quality. This longitudinal and quasiexperimental study investigates the efficacy and sustainability of instructional coaching outcomes with urban elementary teachers (N = 36). The instructional coaching intervention targets use of five research-based practices—the Standards for Effective Pedagogy—known to benefit culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse learners. Quantitative preintervention, post-intervention, and one-year-after intervention data were collected across two years. The intervention consisted of a 30-hour workshop and seven individual coaching sessions across the school year. Findings demonstrate instructional coaching led to statistically significant teacher change against a performance standard. Teachers were able to sustain these changes, albeit at a slightly lower level of fidelity, one year following the intervention. The pattern of attrition reveals that teachers struggle to sustain a commitment to providing teacher assistance to students in the process of learning.