Characteristics and Consequences of Different Modes of Expert Coaching with Pre-kindergarten Teachers

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Characteristics and Consequences of Different
Modes of Expert Coaching with Pre-kindergarten
Teachers
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Collaborators

• Douglas Powell, PI, Purdue
• Karen Diamond, Co-PI, Purdue
• Matthew Koehler, Instructional Technology,
  Michigan State
• Margaret Burchinal, Methodologist, U. of North
  Carolina, Chapel Hill

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Research Aim

• Examine effects of two different methods of
  providing expert coaching to teachers on
  instructional practices
• Goal of intervention is to improve Head Start
  classroom and teacher supports for literacy and
  language development, and childrens language and
  literacy skills

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Expert Coaching

• Increasingly used as a professional development
  strategy
• Includes components recommended in the in-service
  teacher education literature
• guided implementation of research-based knowledge
  in classroom practices
• individualized delivery
• immediate feedback, including analysis of teaching

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Role of Technology

• Technology is an emerging resource in early
  childhood professional development
• Viewed as a potentially economical alternative to
  on-site coaching, particularly for supporting
  teachers in geographically remote locations
• Research on effects of technologically-delivered
  expert coaching is limited

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Two Forms of Technology Developed in Current
Project

• Video review tool
• Supports critique of videotaped teaching
  practices submitted by teachers
• Used by coach to divide videotaped teaching
  sample into segments
• Coach provides constructive feedback and
  suggestions on each segment of instruction
• Teacher views critique on split screen segments
  on left, coach comments on right

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Two Forms of Technology Developed in Current
Project (cont.)

• Case-based hypermedia resource
• 16 cases on how teachers can improve childrens
  early literacy outcomes
• Each case is comprised of
• video clips of research-based practices plus text
  that highlights key practice elements
• practitioner-oriented articles on case topic
• references to research and other resources
• links to related cases in hypermedia resource
• Links to cases are embedded in coach comments to
  teachers

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Research Design

• 84 Head Start classrooms in 29 centers randomly
  assigned to fall or to spring intervention
  semester
• Classrooms assigned to spring intervention
  semester served as control classrooms in fall
  semester
• Within each intervention semester, classrooms
  randomly assigned to on-site or to remote
  coaching condition

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Research Design (cont.)

• Teacher, classroom, and child outcome data
  collected before and after intervention semester
  plus follow up (one-semester post intervention)
  in fall semester intervention group
• Teacher/classroom measure ELLCO
• Child measures PPVT, WJ-LW, letter naming,
  blending

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Intervention

• Two-day workshop prior to intervention semester
• Remote coaching condition
• Critique of teacher-submitted videotape of
  instruction (M22 mins) plus hypermedia resource
• On-site coaching condition
• Critique of observed instruction (M105 mins)
  provided in one-on-one consultation (M32 mins)
  as part of visit to classroom
• Approximately twice monthly contact in each
  condition

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Sample (2005-2006 cohort)

• Head Start classrooms serving urban, small city,
  rural communities
• Teachers (n 51)
• 82 associates or bachelors degree
• Median of 3.0 years in current position
• No statistically significant background
  differences between semester or condition
• Children (n 470)
• 27 Latino, 37 African American
• 4 years of age by December 31

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Classroom Instruction Outcomes

• Intervention and intervention X time differences
  on ELLCO overall and language-literacy
  instruction Both intervention groups had greater
  gains than control
• Effect sizes were substantial (approximately d
  1.0)

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Child Outcomes

• Children in intervention groups scored higher and
  made greater gains on measures of letter and word
  identification, naming letters, and blending than
  children in control group
• Effect sizes were moderate (approximately d.23)
• No differences in outcomes between the two
  intervention conditions

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Feedback and Suggestions by Coaching Condition
Amount

• Preliminary analyses of coaching sessions (n60)
  in randomly-selected classrooms (n8). (Coaches
  were assigned to both on-site and remote
  conditions.)
• Coaches provided feedback/suggestions on more
  topics in remote than in on-site condition.
• Coaches offered about twice as many feedback
  statements and suggestions in remote than in
  on-site condition.

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Amount of Feedback/Suggestions Per Contact
Remote M (SD) On-site M (SD)
Topics 9 (3.2) 5 (1.5)
Feedback Statements 5 (2.5) 2 (0.7)
Suggestions 6 (2.6) 3 (1.6)
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Feedback and Suggestions by Coaching Condition
Content

• Higher percentage of coach comments in
• on-site related to literacy materials
• remote related to individualization of teaching
  practices.
• The percentage of coach comments related to
  literacy teaching practices for all children was
  similar across the two coaching conditions.

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Content of Feedback/Suggestions Per Session
Remote On-site
Literacy Materials 20 32
Teaching Practices All Children 69 66
Teaching Practices Individual Children 11 2
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Rethinking Our Starting Point

• Original premise A technologically-mediated
  method of coaching may be an effective
  alternative to the dominant (on-site) method of
  coaching.
• Revised premise Technologically-mediated and
  on-site methods of coaching may provide
  distinctive, complementary contributions to
  improvements in teacher quality.

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• Supported by grant award R305M040167 from the
  Institute of Education Sciences to Purdue
  University.
• For further information powelld_at_purdue.edu or
  kdiamond_at_purdue.edu