The impact of instructional coaching on teaching practices

Abstract

The challenges facing today’s schools are greater than ever. The impetus to improve educational outcomes for all students and compete with the rest of the world has become one of the country’s most important endeavors. Several important factors have been identified in research as supporting improved teaching in today’s schools, the impact of student success, the impact of teacher efficacy, the support of an instructional coach or peer coach, and the support of the building principal and district superintendent.

This study examined teacher perceptions of the impact that instructional coaching and the other factors had during the implementation of new instructional strategies. A researcher-developed survey instrument collected data from 40 classroom teachers in the Denison, Iowa Community School District who had been involved in using Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) or Differentiated Instruction in their classrooms. A five-point Likert-type scale measured teacher perceptions of their levels of implementation of instructional change and the impact of instructional coaching, teacher efficacy, student success, principal support, and superintendent support. District instructional coaches also identified teacher levels of implementation for comparison to the teachers’ self-identified implementation levels.

Results of the study indicated a mismatch between the district instructional coaches’ perceptions and those of the teachers. The district instructional coaches understood the teacher levels of implementation of new instructional strategies to be much higher than the teachers self-reported. The study also demonstrated that grade level and years of teaching experience mattered in whether or not instructional coaching was considered to be an important factor in classroom change. Elementary teachers and teachers with the least experience rated the support of an instructional coach highest. Basic users who were in the early stages of implementing instructional changes rated teacher efficacy as the highest impact factor and advanced users who were in the later stages of implementing instructional changes considered student success highest. Overall, the factor recognized by teachers as being the most motivating in making instructional changes in the classroom was student success.