Intructional coaching

Student Name: Mohammad Abbas ID: J00048722 Faculty Member: Dr. Petronella Cameron Roehampton University

Part I: Introduction (732 words) Preparing a responsive generation of teachers, that is able to teach efficiently, is the hope of every country (McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz & Hamilton, 2003). However, many teachers report their unpreparedness for this role (Florian, 2012). According to Shulman& Shulman (2004), teachers need somebody who is able to unpack their capabilities and show them the way to learn how to teach. Teachers need to be advised by somebody who can see things that they cannot see and help them do their best in their classrooms (DeWitt, 2014). In the meantime, school principals and administrators are spending most of their times managing the administrative affairs (Hale & Moorman, 2003). In addition, almost every big educational reform project, such as “No Child Left Behind; Reading First projects and Early Reading First Projects”, states and presses the importance of preparing teachers professionally in order for producing a generation of life-long learners ( Shidler, 2009). Consequently, Professional development programs offered to teachers have to be presented and supported by somebody who is able to deliver an on-site and research based support that guarantees the advancement of both teachers and students (Devine, Houssemand &Meyers, 2013).

This situation has led to a call for applying instructional coaching in the schools, as one of the effective solutions to this problem (Knight & Cornett, 2009). Due to the rapid and wide application of coaching in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia (AITSL, 2013; Aguilar, 2016; Knight, 2007; Whitmore, 1992), it is getting more necessary to measure its effects and try to move this rich experience to the Arab countries as it is not yet experienced nor measured here in the educational arena. Accordingly, I intend to conduct a research on instructional coaching approach in my school, where I work in Saudi Arabia. Such research will contribute to answer some major questions concerning the relationship between the teachers’ satisfaction and the students’ performance in different subject areas. In addition, the research will measure how instructional coaching can turn teachers’ fixed mindsets into growing ones (Masters, 2013). As a result, I will use the mixed method (Punch, 2009) with the intent of collecting both qualitative and quantitative data that support the progress of instructional coaching

(Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005) in our school and then in the entire educational arena.

In the early beginning, I will have to train my staff of subjects’ coordinators on instructional coaching approach in order for getting them ready to practice it with their teachers. This will help me conduct the research easily as it is expected that most of the teachers will have similar fears of this new program. These fears are represented in the following questions: - Will coaches discuss our private notes on public with other subjects’ coaches?

- Will coaches use coaching as an assessment tool for our performance?

- Is coaching really useful or we have to apply it because it is mandatory from the school administration?

Answering all these questions and even more will be through a code of ethics that will be organized and written in a contract between the coach and his or her coachees (teachers). This contract aims primarily at creating a case of rapport between the coaches and their teachers in order to help them excel in their career path (Aguilar, 2015). Accordingly, the coach and the teacher will agree upon the first two principles in their contract, these principles are ‘candidness and confidentiality’. These two confining principles will help teachers get rid of their fears. They will therefore start releasing their emotions and thoughts about their problems inside their classrooms, the issue that will help reach the most benefit from the coaching sessions.

On the other hand, we will refer our teachers to the BERA (2011) ethical guidelines. As a result, we will discuss these ethical guidelines and commit ourselves to them, as we do not have a similar one in our country. Teachers will realize that their privacy is respected according to these ethical guidelines. Moreover, teachers will also realize that they have the right to withdraw from the project at any time and without explaining any excuses. Therefore, teachers are invited to participate in the project because of its proven results (Knight, 2007) and not because they are mandated to participate. Finally, if teachers have the right to withdraw from the project at any time, so no data will be used for any assessment purposes.

Part II: Literature Review (2919 Words) Literature search strategy Since the number of empirical researches that have been conducted in the field of instructional coaching is still unable to cover the research needs (Carey, Philippon and Cummings, 2011), I decided to use the integrative review method (Torraco, 2005; Whittemore and Knafl, 2005). Retrieving and collecting relevant data and articles that serve my searching about instructional coaching was through using the words: coaching, instructional coaching, the impacts of instructional coaching, and the drawbacks of instructional coaching, to find relevant data through google scholar and the EBSCOhost Research Databases search engine (Roehampton University, 2106). The research resulted in 68 titles. These titles encompass the fields of instructional coaching, business coaching, life coaching, cognitive coaching and executive coaching. Six titles were selected to answer the following research questions: RQ1: What are the key elements of coaching models?

RQ2: What are the effects of applying Instructional Coaching in diverse educational settings?

RQ3: What is the impact of applying Instructional Coaching on teachers’ professional development?

The key elements of coaching models Reviewing the “coaching” terminology through most of the academic search engines often result in numerous types of coaching forms and styles. Obviously, those forms have their own natures and styles. Trying to figure out the main components of the

whole coaching models, Carey, Philippon and Cummings (2011), have emphasized five main components. These five factors are as follows: 1- “Relationship Building” Successful relationship between a coach and his/her coachees is a pivotal factor that guarantees the continuity and effectiveness of the coaching model (Passmore, 2007).

Such good relations will affect the students’ performance positively (Madhlangobe (2009).

2- “Problem defining and goal setting” Setting off the coaching journey should start with an intensive assessment tool that is able to identify the coachees’ progress and offer thorough feedback about them in various areas such as areas for improvement, strengths and standards of performance (Hoojiberg & Lane, 2009).

3-“Problem solving” (Planning) Most of the reviewed papers support the formation of an action plan that addresses the most pressing areas that should be developed through the coaching cycles. Some coaching models have seen “role playing, reading material, rehearsal, clarification, and dialogue” as alternate strategies that promote the same skills (Carey, Philippon and Cummings, 2011). It is worthy to mention that however the authors have highlighted “problem solving” as a main component, they explained it as an equivalent to “action planning” skill where they are different terms.

4-“Transformational process” All coaches play the role of creating the needed momentum and maximizing their coachees’ potentials in order for changing their own awareness about their capabilities and forming new ones that qualify them perform better in their career (Kowalski &Casper, 2007).

5- Mechanisms by which the model achieves outcomes

The authors have elaborated on presenting the deferent mechanisms and techniques used by coaches differently to maintain and achieve settled goals through the action plans. However, it is clear that there is no one formula, which confines the coaching approaches (Cornett and Knight, 2008).

Eventually, as the empirical researches on coaching are still fewer than expected, the authors had to get their data from several literature resources and researches. Thus, they were successful in choosing the integrative review method for their research. The researchers were able to come up with common shared key features that encompass all the scanned coaching models in the study and even those that were not scanned.

However, his writing showed no evidence of following certain ethical guidelines.

The Effects of applying Instructional Coaching in diverse educational settings Searching a sample of twenty-one teachers, Annela Teemant, Joan Wink and Serena Tyra (2011) have elaborated on a quasi-empirical research to prove the validity of instructional coaching as an effective professional development tool in helping teachers master “the ďŹ ve sociocultural standards for effective pedagogyâ€?, developed by The Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (2011). The researchers have chosen the quantitative approach to verify their research. Thus, it is expected to reach determined figures that prove their goals (punch, 2009). The main goal of the study was to measure the professionality of teachers applying the five standards after completing a coaching program of seven cycles. The researchers have used the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) method to answer three research questions. They show a good experience in answering the research questions using the MLR strategy. The first question asked if teachers increase their use of the five standards across the coaching cycles and the findings showed greater use of them at cycle seven than at cycle one. The second question examined the development of teachers from cycle to cycle and the results proved a good improvement in each standard. The final question investigated if the use of small group activity centers increased or not. Results indicated that 91% of

teachers were able to teach through these “conversational centers”. The researchers were clear in their objectives. They succeeded in proving the effect of instructional coaching in figures. They used the deductive theory to operationalize (Laureate Education, 2014) the instructional coaching approach. It was like saying that coaching is valid for every educational setting.

Since this research has been conducted in the United States, it is expected that the researchers will follow the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Code of Ethics (2011). In general, they have followed the whole ethics. They were able to meet the fourth standard significantly by addressing ethnically diverse participants in their research. They also showed a great respect to the contributions made by others when they acknowledged the person who has helped them with the statistical analyses.

On the other hand, Piper & Zuilkowski (2015) denote the influence of applying instructional coaching on the performance of Kenyan students in literacy assessments in English language and Kiswahili.The researchers have adopted the quantitative approach to answer their three research questions. They have chosen the Treatment method where they have two groups of schools, one as an experimental group and the other is the control one (Punch, 2009). The first finding shows how the number of teachers assigned to a coach affects the number of visits paid to those teachers. The study revealed that the coach with less number of teachers has paid more visits than the coach that has more number of teachers. Secondly, the results were not significant in showing a strong relation between the school-to-coach ratio and the nonformal schools’ students’ performance in the literacy assessments but at the 0.10 level.

However, the results were clear that the educational zone size affected the students’ performance in literacy assessments in English and Kiswahili. Finally, the researchers were able to introduce to the policy makers in Kenya tangible figures about the instructional support that teachers, along with their students, receive in the schools there. They were also to reach a general base that school-to-coach ratio affects the performance of the students positively and negatively if more or less.

The researchers have met the ethical research standard as they got the RTI approval for their research. They have also applied the informed consent principle when they gave the participating students the choice of not participating in the study. Moreover, the students who declined to participate were rewarded similarly to those who did with (pencils). The researchers also were delighted to those who have helped in the editorial work in this study.

The impact of applying Instructional Coaching on Teachers’ professional development Sara Hartman (2013) has conducted a case study on a rural school that had not met the “Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)” for several years. The researcher concerned herself with applying coaching in order for “gaining an entry” to the classrooms as a coach to be able to offer the needed help for both teachers and students. Using fictitious names and places, the author introduces the main participant of the case study, “Ms. Paugh”, as an experienced teacher who has been assigned to coach the school math teachers in order to elevate the school’s score in math. Trying to get an entry as a new coach was a very tough task for her even after achieving certain successes.

The researcher designed her research depending on the qualitative research principles.

According to Punch (2009), “a case study can be an individual”. So, she chose to examine the details of “Ms. Paugh” as a new math coach case study. During a whole year, she collected several data through interviews, discussions, class observations, audio tapes, note takings and coaching documents used through her work. She considered “entering classes with teachers upon their permission is a sign of her success with them. Using four techniques: “(1) indirect correspondence, (2) co-planning sessions with teachers, (3) co-teaching with receptive teachers, and (4) providing professional development”, she was able to indicate a good success for her plan.

Although her relationship with teachers varied from one teacher to another according to different circumstances, eventually, she got an entry that enabled her to offer some of the needed help.

Using the instrumental case study (Stake, 1994), the author planned to generalize the effect of applying coaching on developing teachers’ performance in math. The author

was able to achieve good results by entering classes with several teachers. Four teachers were always welcoming her presence in their classes as a co-teacher. Three did not mind being visited and co-taught by her for several times while other three teachers invited her for few meetings, but no co-teaching sessions were achieved. These results show a moderate progress. However, generalizability is doubted here (Punch, 2009) for some reasons a) the researcher’s results varied from one teacher to another in the same school, some were very welcoming while the others were reluctant so, what is the case when talking about different number of schools? b) One of the drawbacks of the case study method is its generalizability because after all it is only one case. Moreover, the sample of the research still few to be generalized (Shavelson, Webb& Rowley, 1989) as it represented only one school, c) it is clear that the subjectivity (Cooke, Kosson &Michie, 2001) was a key factor when considering the relationship between the researcher and teachers as they varied in their responses according to the acceptance of the character of the researcher. Therefore, we still need to examine if the personal characteristics of the coach are “extraneous variable” (Punch, 2009) that should be controlled or not because in some cases the researchers interpret these responses according to his or her understanding (Creswell, 2009). Yet, it is worthy to highlight the ability of the researcher to determine the variables that hindered Ms. Paugh’s to reach a complete success in her project. These variables are “including the staff views of her insider status, staff relationships, her ability to change her identity, teacher resistance, and the importance of trust and confidentiality” (Sara Hartman, 2013). I believe that coaches, researchers and educators can benefit from these variables in enhancing the different coaching models through future researches. The author did not show any evidence on applying the “voluntary informed consent” principle (AERA, 2011). However, she kept the privacy of the participants through using false names and places. In general, she has given no reference nor implications that she followed certain ethical guidelines in her research (AERA, 2011).

Another case study that paid more attention to measuring the impact of coaching on the professional development of English language teachers was conducted in Hong Kong through a partnership project (Li & Chan, 2007). This eighteen-month project was conducted between the researchers and a school in Hong Kong in order to measure the impact of coaching on the professional development of the performance of English

language teachers. It aimed at assessing two things a) the effectiveness of the teaching processes applied inside the school, and b) the ability of applying all the professional programs offered to teachers effectively in order for fostering a conducive learning environment. The researchers have implemented their research on three consecutive phases. The first phase were applied on 15 participants. The coaches initiated their efforts by executing a workshop on the “Task Based Learning” approach that will be adopted by teacher in the project. Unfortunately, the coaches were met by a pale feedback and weak interaction from the teacher participants as they expressed that this approach is similar to some programs they have trained on before and that the main problem is in the application not the theory. Consequently, teachers were asked to elaborate on a unit from their own content as an application on what they have learnt in the workshop. They were to revise, reorganize and make any necessary changes on their curriculum maps according to their students’ needs. Finally, they were able to produce six unit plans from different grade levels. Yet, their work reflected an inability to draw a robust and comprehensive idea about the big ideas and essential understandings that their students should master (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). It was clear that teachers need extra time for extended help from their coaches and thus the number of participants were reduced to the half to include only the teachers of primary three and primary four classes. Such insights and amendments done on the project helped the coaches tailor the needed support before delving into the second phase.

Phase umber two concentrated on the “co-planning” as a means of helping teachers have a planned unit by the coaches as reference when designing their owns. Teachers expressed their satisfaction about this kind of modelling offered from the coaches as a reference for their work. Moreover, the coaches have seen that observing teachers inside their class while applying these mapped units would give more support to the whole process. Thus, the observations were video recorded for feedback and further discussions between the teachers and the coaches. However, some teachers were still in a need for extra assistance. So, it was agreed upon including the “co-teaching” step in the third phase. During the last phase, the coaches along with their teachers were to sit together before the lesson to discuss thoroughly the activities that fit well for the lesson and the techniques of applying these activities adequately. This step was highly appreciated by the teachers as they felt that their coaches tended to assist them instead

of assessing them. Eventually, teachers’ performance was pointed out to be improved in planning and lesson delivering skills.

The researchers successfully used the case study method to examine the impact of their coaching practices not only on the mastering of some instructional skills, but also on the ability to define seven factors that can affect the environment in which the coaching approach takes place. Examples of these factors are the positive relationship between the coach and his/her teachers, providing constructive and “non- judgmental feedback” and concentrating on quality rather than quantity while working with teachers. Date were collected from focus groups, interviews, lessons observations and discussions. Data were analyzed by “giving codes” to the whole documents and then interpreted to certain recommendations. In general, the researchers were able to denote remarkable change in teachers’ professionalism and performance. However, there were not any benchmarks that could measure the progress made by each teacher nor compare it with his/her colleagues. This reflects the necessity of conducting a mixed methodology (Creswell & Clark, 2007) that may involve some standards and figures.

Reaching some figures through a quantitative method will introduce a solid evidence on the impact of coaching on teachers’ performance. Moreover, it is clear that the number of teachers assigned to the coach is a crucial variable that needs to be researched and examined in future research.

Although the researchers conducted their study through a partnership project in Hong Kong, they have not refer to any required ethical godliness nor did they discuss any of them (AERA, 2011; BERA, 2011).

3- Research findings RQ1: What are the key elements of coaching models?

Carey, Philippon and Cummings (2011) were able to introduce a comprehensive evaluation of the most impressive factors that constitute most of the coaching models.

Mostly, the positive relationship was the key factor amongst them all. However, we still need to reach out a unified technique and mechanism that confine instructional coaching at any educational settings, exactly as it is the case at any approach. There I

nothing that can survive in an emptiness (Graça and Passos, 2014). Exploring the different types and techniques proposed and applied by different researchers (Aguilar, 2016; Knight, 2007; Whitmore, 1992) gives us a clear view that all these efforts still need to be more organized and contextualized in order for reaching agreed upon solid approach.

RQ2: What are the effects of applying Instructional Coaching in diverse educational settings?

Although the above articles have shown that caching has a good impact in diverse educational settings (Teemant, Wink and Tyra, 2011; Piper & Zuilkowski, 2015), this is still questioned as the above researches were directing their focuses on the possibility of applying it in those diverse places as a new approach. Yet, most of these researches, if not all, did not focus their interests on studying the relationship between coaching and certain diversity variables such as ethnicity, economic background and others.

RQ3: What is the impact of applying Instructional Coaching on Teachers’ professional development?

Most of the research findings indicate positive impact of coaching on teachers’ professional development and even on their thoughts and believes about such development programs. Future mixed method researches should be concentrating on conducting, developing and applying professional standards that can evaluate and compare the effects of coaching on teachers’ performance according to certain benchmarks and figures.

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