About this session

Thursday, 11:50 AM - 1:20 PM

Investigations of Early Childhood Coaching Models to Support Quality Improvement Initiatives: Key Lessons for Implementation

Early childhood (EC) coaching models can facilitate a broad range of quality improvement initiatives due to their potential to provide individualized support for educators in authentic contexts, which can subsequently improve children’s learning experiences (Gibbons & Cobb, 2017; Kane & Rosenquist, 2019). However, there is little known about (a) how EC coaching models relate to educator and child outcomes and (b) the types of coaching practices used within these models. The proposed symposium addresses these gaps by describing how EC coaching models can improve instructional quality and children’s learning outcomes (first two papers), and will further highlight specific coaching practices commonly linked to quality improvement initiatives (third paper).

The first paper describes findings from a meta-analysis of EC coaching to investigate the use of coaching models and impacts on teachers’ practices and children’s learning, with a focus on social-emotional outcomes. The second paper describes how a coaching-focused professional learning system improved EC teacher and child outcomes, and identifies generalizable coaching practices used to engage teachers, particularly around writing outcomes. The final paper shares findings from a two-phase study of variations in EC coaches’ practices, and then examines associations between coaching practices and engagement in quality improvement activities. The discussant will address the collective relevance of this work, including how the studies can inform implementation of EC coaching models in quality improvement initiatives to promote outcomes for children The discussant will highlight areas for future research around strengthening use of coaching models in EC initiatives.

Paper #1
Title	The Impacts of Early Childhood Coaching on Teachers’ Social-Emotional Practices and Children’s Learning Outcomes
Presenting author	Lisa L. Knoche, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States

Paper #2
Title	Virtual Coaching within an Online Professional Learning System to Promote Teacher Engagement and Children’s Literacy
Presenting author	Hope K. Gerde, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, United States

Paper #3
Title	An Exploration of Early Childhood Coach Practices and Associations with Quality Improvement
Presenting author	Cheryl Varghese, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Dr. Cheryl Varghese, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States

Discussant
Dr. Amanda P. Williford, Ph.D., University of Virginia, United States

⇦ Back to schedule