Research Introduction and Background

THE EFFECTS OF COACHING ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:

WHAT LEADERSHIP TEAMS CAN EXPECT FROM THEIR INVESTMENT IN ACADEMIC COACHES

Aubrey E. McClain

Michigan State University 

Introduction and Background

            A recent trend in education is to hire academic “coaches” to offer frequent, on-site teacher professional development.  These coaches are most often dubbed literacy or reading coaches although math coaches are also coming on scene.  The idea of literacy coaching has been around since the 1920s but has recently been revived in public schools across the nation (Hall, 2004).  As with all educational trends, evaluation of student achievement is necessary.  What are the effects of academic coaches on student achievement? 

            Knowing the effects that academic coaches have on student achievement holds significant value to me.  I have been hired this year at my school to be a writing coach.  Writing scores are generally low all over the state.  Teachers, when asked, often express their dislike for or lack of knowledge about teaching writing.  Writing is my passion.  I was blessed to travel with a group of students from 6^th grade to 7^th grade and saw great improvement in their writing scores.  These students had the opportunity to have consistent instruction from a passionate and knowledgeable instructor over a two year period.  It is now my challenge to instill a passion in other teachers to provide quality writing instruction.  I know I face a difficult challenge and will probably have to tackle poor attitudes or teachers who are not looking to change, but I am up to the challenge.  Writing is one of the great communication tools, and our students do not have the basic skills needed to write effectively for communication.  Although I am excited about this new avenue, I am curious as to how my work as a coach will truly affect student achievement in my school.

            Many school districts across this nation are hiring academic coaches in the areas of literacy, math and science.  The question of the effectiveness of coaching on student achievement will be valuable to any school district allocating funds to hire coaches.  Funding for such positions should be justified.  If coaches are not effective to better student achievement, then there would be no reason to allocate funds for coaches.  Leadership teams across the United States will be interested to know if coaches really do have a positive effect on student achievement.

            Coaching and its effects on student achievement are researched based.  Most of the research supports the hiring of coaches for academic areas, and that those coaches have a positive effect on student achievement.  However, it is cautioned that coaching programs must be set up for success and not failure.  There are three major areas of concentration when considering academic or school-based coaching: the role of a coach, the cautions or pitfalls, and the success of students.   

            The role of the coach, no matter the academic content, should be viewed as non-threatening.  It is vital coaches build trusting relationships with teachers; teachers should feel comfortable not only conversing with their coach but not feel threatened when the coach is in the classroom to observe and/or assist.  Coaches should model for teachers when needed and work with teachers on instructional strategies both in one-on-one and small group settings.  In order to offer teachers additional support in their classroom, coaches should be working with the students when in the classroom (Hall, 2004).  These components of the coach’s role must be in place to ensure student success. 

            There are cautionary tales, however, when implementing a coaching program.  The first is finding enough good coaches without removing too many quality teachers out of the classroom (Russo, 2004).  Excellent teachers help lead to student success.  Once quality coaches have been found and hired, it is necessary those individuals be presented with professional development opportunities to hone their skills.  They must also be supported by their leadership teams.  Another caution that leads some against hiring coaches is the cost, but once successes are proved, student achievement outweighs the cost of a coach.  The final caution given to implementing coaching programs is teacher buy-in (Russo, 2004).  Teachers must have willing attitudes to build a relationship with their coach and understand that the coach is only there to help to improve student success – not to belittle a teacher or make them feel insecure.    

            There are numerous examples of student achievement successes from the implementation of coaches.  The published successes are coming from larger school districts in areas such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas.  School districts in these areas have committed resources to coaching and are experiencing success with their students.  Within five years of the Dallas schools implementing a coaching program, all of the schools involved had been removed from the state’s low-performing schools list (Russo, 2004).  Coaching programs have positive effects on student achievement when all necessary components are in place. 

References

Hall, B. (2004). Literacy coaches. An evolving role. Carnegie Reporter, 3(1).

Russo, A. (2004). School-based coaching: A revolution in professional development-or just the latest fad?. Harvard Education Letter Research Online, July/August 2004.