The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence

Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. We review the empirical literature on teacher coaching and conduct meta-analyses to estimate the mean effect of coaching programs on teachers 'instructional practice and students 'aca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of educational research 2018-08, Vol.88 (4), p.547-588
Main Authors: Kraft, Matthew A., Blazar, David, Hogan, Dylan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Causal Models
Coaching (Performance)
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Effect Size
Elementary Education
Elementary School Teachers
Faculty Development
Literacy
Literacy Education
Meta Analysis
Preschool Education
Program Effectiveness
Research design
Systematic review
Teacher Competencies
Teacher education
Teacher Effectiveness
Teachers
Teaching methods
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Summary:Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. We review the empirical literature on teacher coaching and conduct meta-analyses to estimate the mean effect of coaching programs on teachers 'instructional practice and students 'academic achievment. Combining results across 60 studies that employ causal research designs, we find pooled effect sizes of 0.49 standard deviations (SD) on instruction and 0.18 SD on achievement. Much of this evidence comes from literacy coaching programs for prekindergarten and elementary school teachers in the United States. Although these findings affirm the potential of coaching as a development tool, further analyses illustrate the challenges of taking coaching programs to scale while maintaining effectiveness. Average effects from effectiveness trials of larger programs are only a fraction of the effects found in efficacy trials of smaller programs. We conclude by discussing ways to address scale-up implementation challenges and providing guidance for future causal studies.
ISSN:0034-6543
1935-1046
DOI:10.3102/0034654318759268