Coaching
Alicia Sullivan, M.S.
Cristina Villanueva, M.S.
Gary Duhon, Ph.D.
What is Coaching?
Coaching is…
• “a method of transferring skill and expertise from
more experienced and knowledgeable practitioners of
such skill to less experienced ones” (Hargreaves &
Dawe, 1990)
 Coaching is a set of responsibilities, actions and activities . .
. not a particular person.
• “Coaching is the active and iterative delivery of:
▫ (a) prompts that increase successful behavior, and
▫ (b) corrections that decrease unsuccessful behavior”
(Horner, 2009)
• Coaches have changed from “experts” to “thought
partners” (Eggers & Clark, 2000)
General Coaching Model
• 1. “Setting the foundation by defining the context,
establishing the contract, and building a working
alliance”
▫ Building rapport
• 2. “Assessing the individual”
• 3. “Strategizing the engagement and developing a
plan based on assessment feedback and goals”
• 4. “Implementing the plan”
• 5. “Evaluating the intervention and reassessing
the initial target areas”
Liljenstrand & Nebeker, 2008
Types of Coaching
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Business coaching
Career/job coaching
Challenge coaching
Change/capacity coaching
Collegial coaching
Executive coaching
Instructional coaching
Life coaching
Peer coaching
Sports coaching
Technical coaching
Who provides coaching?
• Coaches come from a variety of different educational
disciplines
▫ Ranging from high school graduates to PhD’s
• Coaches in the psychology field tend to be hired by
organizations
▫ Rely more on their academic training when coaching, attend
coaching specific certifications or licensure
▫ They view coaching as a mere extension to their regular
services
• Coaches in the field of OTH, BUS, or EDU appear to be
hired mainly by individuals receiving coaching services
and seem to be more involved in the personal coaching
market.
• Liljenstrand & Nebeker, 2008
Is Coaching Effective?
Research on Coaching Effectiveness
• Lack of empirical research (Bartlett, 2007; Silver
et al., 2009)
• But what there is indicates that coaching is
effective
▫ Hendrickson et al. (1993)
▫ Haan, Duchworth, Birch, & Jones, 2013
Effective Professional Development
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Examine goals and performance
Decisions on what needs to be learned
Contextualized learning in schools
Collaborative problem solving
Ongoing and sufficient support
Rich information
Opportunities to develop theoretical
understanding
• Training that is part of a comprehensive reform
process
Hawley & Valli, 1999, as cited in Batt, 2010
Coaching vs. Didactic Training
• “Traditional ‘stand-and-deliver’ presentations rarely
affect measurable, sustained change in student
learning” (Walpole, 2005, as cited by Denton &
Hasbrouck, 2009)
• “In traditional forms of professional development…
teachers are passive participants in the learning. Such
modes of professional development have been found
to be largely ineffective (e.g., Darling‐Hammond &
McLaughlin, 1995).
▫ In contrast, learning though collaboration has been
identified as a characteristic of effective professional
development (Fullan, 1995)” (Lynch & Ferguson, 2010)
Training Methods and Impact Upon
Participants
Gravois et al., 2002
Training Outcomes Related to Training Components
Training Outcomes
Training
Component
Knowledge of
Content
Skill Implementation
Classroom
Application
Presentation/
Lecture
10%
5%
0%
Plus
Demonstration
30%
20%
0%
Plus
Practice
60%
60%
5%
Plus Coaching/
Admin Support
Data Feedback
95%
95%
95%
Joyce & Showers, 2002, as cited in Horner, 2009
Why Do Coaching Models Work?
• Coaches…
▫ Have credibility and experience with the target
skill(s)
▫ Meet repeatedly (e.g., monthly or bi-monthly)
▫ Respond to needs & strengths
▫ Adjust the intensity according to need
▫ Provide supportive and specific feedback about
practices
▫ Offer coaching in context
Cappella et al., 2012
Internal vs. External Coaches
• Definitions
▫ Internal coaches – “employed in the school where
they provide support”
 School-based and/or full-time at one school
▫ External coaches – “employed outside the schools
where they provide support (e.g. by district, region,
state)” (Horner, 2009)
 District-level and/or serve multiple schools
Internal vs. External Coaches
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Advantages
Internal Coach
External Coach
Knowledge of school
• Staff relationships
• Regular access
Independent
• Outside perspective
• Multiple schools experience
Conflicting roles
• Narrow range of
experiences
Limited knowledge of school
• Limited relationships
• Less frequent access
•Unaware of politics in school
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Disadvantages
Horner, 2009
Special Concerns Associated with
External Coaches
• Sustainability (Cappella et al., 2012)
▫ Coach needs to get whole school on board in order
to have the school sustain the implementation of
the program when a particular administrator leaves
• Schools will need to be effective in organizing
personnel and resources to facilitate assisting,
maintaining, and training—both initial training
and continuing development
Characteristics of Coaches
Roles and Skills
Coaches
• Maintain a defined role so they can…
▫ Facilitate
 Training & updating in the area in which they provide
support
 Good use of time management
 Team processes
 Establishment & maintenance of positive
relationships
▫ Communicate
 Effectively
 Understand confidentiality & ethics
Hasbrouck & Denton, 2005, as cited in Denton & Hasbrouck, 2009; Haan,
Duckworth, Birch, & Jones, 2013
Coaches are
▫ Experts in
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Problem-solving
Data collection
Goal-setting
Intervention development
Designing & providing professional development
Supporting sustaining, school-wide student success
Effective Coaches are…
• Team meetings
• Activities at trainings
• Implementation –
‘Positive Nag’
Facilitators
• OTISS expert
• Faculty
• Administrator
• District Coordinator
• Community
Communicators
• Behavioral ‘expert’
•Instructional ‘expert’
Coach
• Link to resources
Content
Knowledge
Experts
What roles do you hold at your site?
• Explicit roles
▫ Job title
• Implicit roles
▫ What else am I asked to do
• How do these roles support or undermine my
ability to Facilitate, Communicate, gain and
demonstrate expertise?
Coaching
• Involves active collaboration and participation to,
▫ Build local capacity
 Become unnecessary, but remain available
▫ Maximize current competence
 Never change things that are working
 Always make the smallest change that will have the
biggest impact
▫ Focus on valued outcomes
 Tie all efforts to the benefits for children
• It is not simply group instruction
Coaching also…
• Emphasize accountability
• Measure and report everything
• Build credibility through:
▫ Consistency
▫ Competence with behavioral and academic
principles/practices
▫ Relationships
▫ Time investment
What do you do?
• How do you facilitate your team?
• How do you communicate with your team?
• How do you share information to your team to
build their skills?
• What do you need to build your coaching skills?
Responsibilities of Coaches
Role and Function
Coaches’ Goals are to
• Assist school team with implementation
• Ensure fidelity of implementation
• Serve as a resource for team
Responsibilities
• Coaches provide assistance by
▫ Attend site team meetings
▫ Encourage and model effective problem solving
within the team
▫ Help develop tools/ resources/ guidelines for future
implementers
▫ Provide ideas for fresh or alternative solutions
▫ Acknowledge progress and encourage continuation
of effective implementation
▫ Support in the development of plans—specifying
goal and steps to achieve goal
Responsibilities
• Coaches ensure fidelity by
▫ Monitor team progress (implementation, use of
database, communication with faculty, etc.)
▫ Review data
▫ Monitor accuracy and consistency
▫ Report to district coordinator
• Coaches provide resource by
▫ Providing or securing training in needed areas of
implementation
▫ Finding answers to difficult questions
▫ Provide resources, or access to resources
Early Implementation Support is Key
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Helps maintain momentum
Helps with team process
Coordinates information and communication
Provide reinforcement thru praise, & celebration
Provide or obtain critical information/technical
support.
• Active problem solving
• All staff trainings/orientation
• Development and use of data for decision-making
Coach must be Problem Analyst
• Identify problems early
• Use data on a regular basis (every two weeks) to
monitor key indicators, and identify problems
before they become difficult
• Refine a problem statement to a level of precision
that will allow functional solutions
• Use data to identify possible solutions
Questions to Ask
• Evaluate performance
▫ How do our data compare with last year?
▫ How does our data on current functioning compare with
our goals?
Questions to Answer
• Do we have a problem?
▫ If a problem is identified, then ask: What is the data we
need, to make a good decision?
• The statement of a problem is important for teambased problem solving.
▫ Everyone must be working on the same problem with
the same assumptions.
• Problems often are framed in a “primary” form that
creates concern but is not useful for problem-solving.
▫ Frame primary problems based on initial review of data
▫ Use more detailed review of data to operationally define
the problem.
Expected Outcomes of Effective
Coaching
• Implementation accuracy & fluency of evidencebased practice
• Maximum student outcomes
• Durable & generalizable implementation
• Implementation-outcome accountability
Sugai, 2011
Evaluation of Outcomes
• Compare data before and after changes
and
• Review the identified problem
• To determine if
▫ Changes were made consistently?
▫ Changes address the problem?
▫ There was an impact?
 If so, evaluate changes and impact
• Identify next step. (Continue, modify, discontinue
etc.)
Evaluation of Outcomes
• Scoring Rubrics for Implementation
▫ OTISS Fidelity Assessment
• Objective measure of overall degree of
implementation
▫ It serves as the initial assessment and the measure
of progress
Facilitating Lasting Change
• Clear expectations from the principal/admin that
OTISS is important
• A community of practice in which teachers feel
empowered to seek and provide help to their peers
• Research results that clearly link an instructional
practice with improved student outcomes
• Resources that support implementation (e.g.,
materials)
• Flexibility to modify a practice to fit the needs of
teachers and students.
• Lather, rinse, repeat…
Klingner, 2004
Pros and Cons of Coaching
• List the three most challenging
aspects of coaching
▫ In general
▫ At your site
• List three positive aspects of coaching
▫ In general
▫ At your site
• Review the list and ask the groups to discuss
strategies for overcoming the challenges.
Your Next Step???
• Acknowledge/reinforce principal & team for progress since training
• Communicate with the team/leadership & ask
• What is planned?
• Is assistance needed?
• Prompt team to:
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Meet & review action plan with staff – are we on track?
Review school data
Plan update to faculty of progress/outcomes to date
Schedule next team meeting
• Monitor completion of team action plan
• Document team & coaching accomplishments, speed bumps,
challenges, solutions
Horner’s (2009) “Lessons Learned”
• “Implementation cannot be faster than your
school staff capacity to implement”
• “Teams need to be taught how to analyze and
use data”
• “Emphasis on directing resources to need and
removing competing activities”
Examples
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Florida’s Positive Behavior Support Project
New Hampshire Department of Education
Northern Suburban Special Education District
University of Oregon Effective Behavioral &
Instructional Support Systems
References
• Bartlett II, J. E. (2007). Advances in coaching practices: A humanistic approach to coach and
client roles. Journal of Business Research, 60, 91-93.
• Batt, E. G. (2010). Cognitive coaching: A critical phase in professional development to
implement sheltered instruction. Teaching and Teaching Education, 26, 997-1005.
• Cappella, E., Hamre, B. K., Kim, H. Y., Henry, D. B., Frazier, S. L., Atkins, M. S., &
Schoenwald, S. K. (2012). Teacher consultation and coaching within mental health practice:
Classroom and child effects in urban elementary schools. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0027725
• Denton, C. A., & Hasbrouck, J. (2009). A description of instructional coaching and its
relationship to consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 19, 150175.
• Eaken, G. J., & Hagemeier, C. (2011, February). Sustaining positive behavior supports using
school psychologists as coaches. Presented at the National Association of School
Psychologists Annual Convention in San Francisco, CA.
• Gravois, T. A., Knotek, S., & Babinski, L. M. (2002). Educating practitioners as consultants:
Development and implementation of the instructional consultation team consortium. Journal
of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 13, 113-132.
• Haan, E, Duckorth, A., Birch, D., & Jones, C. (2013). Executive coaching outcome research:
The contribution of common factors such as relationship, personality match, and self-efficacy.
Consulting Psychology Journal, 65, 40-57.
• Hargreaves, A., & Dawe, R. (1990). Paths of professional development: Contrived collegiality,
collaborative culture, and the case of peer coaching. Teaching & Teacher Education, 6, 227-241.
References
• Hendrickson, J. M., Gardner, N., Kaiser, A., & Riley, A. (1993). Evaluation of a
social interaction coaching program in an integrated day-care setting. Journal
of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 213-225.
• Horner, R. (2009, March). The importance of coaching in implementation of
evidence-based practices. Presented at the Effective Behavioral & Instructional
Support Systems Conference in Eugene, OR.
• Klingner, J. K. (2004). The science of professional development. Journal of
Learning Disabilities, 37, 248-255.
• Liljenstrand, A. M., & Nebeker, D. M. (2008). Coaching services: A look at
coaches, clients, and practices. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and
Research, 60, 57-77.
• Lynch, J., & Ferguson, K. (2010). Reflections of elementary school literacy
coaches on practice: Roles and perspectives. Canadian Journal of Education,
33, 199-227.
• Silver, M., Lochmiller, C. R., Copeland, M. A., & Tripps, A. M. (2009).
Supporting new school leaders: Findings from a university-based leadership
coaching program for new administrators. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership
in Learning, 17, 215-232.
• Sugai, G. (2011, June). Coaching for implementation: Best practices perspective.
Presented at the Kentucky PBIS Institute Conference in Louisville, KY.