The Tailoring of Coaching in Response to Teacher Need: Associations with Classroom Outcomes

Introduction: While evidence-based interventions are increasingly being implemented in schools to address student behavioral and mental health challenges, there are concerns regarding intervention implementation and sustainability. Coaching presents a potential avenue to promote intervention effectiveness. However, research is needed to determine what factors lead to successful coaching and thus improved outcomes. This study investigated whether coaches tailor their levels of support based on teacher need and if tailoring relates to measurable improvements in the classroom. This study was conducted within the context of the Double Check framework (Hershfeldt et al., 2009), an intervention targeting culturally responsive practices to reduce disciplinary disproportionality utilizing the Classroom Check-Up (CCU; Reinke, Lewis-Palmer, & Merrell, 2008) as the tailored coaching model. The CCU incorporates motivational interviewing and coaching to promote and sustain effective classroom management. Coaching occurs in a staged process, including interview, direct observation, feedback, action planning, and ongoing support.

 

Method: Six elementary and six middle schools participated in a randomized trial testing the impact of the Double Check framework; 100 teachers were randomly assigned to receive coaching and 121 served as controls. All teachers were assessed by external observers at the start and end of the school year using the Assessing School Settings: Interactions of Students and Teachers (ASSIST; Rusby et al., 2001), a direct observational coding system. Coaches reported on their teacher contacts.  Multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine the tailoring of coaching.

 

Results: The number of coaching sessions ranged from 4 to 17, with most variability in number of data observations and both follow-up observations and feedback sessions. These elements were more sensitive to tailoring as their frequency was determined by the coach.  Coaches conducted more data observations for teachers rated lower on the ASSIST at the start of the school year, but this relationship was only evident for middle school teachers. Furthermore, middle school teachers who received more follow-up feedback sessions had better ASSIST scores in the spring.

 

Discussion: The findings from this study suggested that coaches tailor their supports in response to teacher need. The tailoring was related to improved student and teacher interactions in the spring. Notably, the success of tailoring was most evident in middle schools, which may be due to more negative student and teacher interactions relative to elementary schools or to differences in school structure. The importance of tailoring coaching as a means to enhancing the effectiveness of interventions will be discussed.