An explanatory mixed-methods study of how classroom teachers perceive instructional coaching at an urban high school in Pennsylvania

Michael J. Reed

doi:10.17918/etd-6436

Instructional coaching has been recognized as a research-based professional development model that improves teacher practice and increases student achievement. The problem is that most secondary schools attempting to implement instructional coaching fail to have instructional coaches work directly with teachers for an adequate amount of time, which minimizes the effect of the coaching process. The purpose of this explanatory mixed-methods study was to examine how classroom teachers perceived instructional coaching at an urban high school in Pennsylvania and to measure the relationship of teachers' experience and content assignment to their receptivity to coaching. Three classroom teachers were interviewed several times using a phenomenological approach to explore how classroom teachers perceived and experienced instructional coaching. The classroom teachers credited instructional coaching with improving how they taught and planned, increasing active engagement throughout the school, decreasing behavioral infractions from students, increasing student achievement results, and creating a school-wide collaborative environment. Through the interview process, common themes emerged regarding the desired skill sets of an instructional coach, the challenges with implementing instructional coaching at the high school level, and the coaching approaches that had the greatest effect on changing instructional practice. Teachers reported that the interpersonal skills and instructional expertise of the coaches and a positive work environment established by the administration were essential for instructional coaching to affect teacher practice within a high school setting. Prior to the qualitative interviews, 77 classroom teachers completed an adapted version of the Teacher Reflection and Impact Survey to investigate the relationships, characteristics, and impact of the instructional coaching model being implemented at the research site. The study found statistically significant differences when comparing how content area affects receptivity to instructional coaching. Although all content area scores were considered high, the results indicated that mathematics, science, and elective teachers had significantly higher receptivity scores than the English and social studies teachers. Differences were also found when comparing how teacher experience affected receptivity to coaching; however these differences were not statistically significant. Keywords: Instructional coaching, professional development, teacher effectiveness, receptivity, implementation, high school

An explanatory mixed-methods study of how classroom teachers perceive instructional coaching at an urban high school in Pennsylvania

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An explanatory mixed-methods study of how classroom teachers perceive instructional coaching at an urban high school in Pennsylvania

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