Exploring the influence of targeted coaching on teachers' planning and instruction

When it comes to planning for instruction, many teachers may feel an overwhelming need to rely on prescribed curricular resources and when those are not available many teachers may feel lost. While several methods for improving instructional planning exist, research has shown that prioritizing standards, creating assessments aligned to those standards, and using the data from those assessments to make instructional decisions have positively impacted teachers' instructional planning practices. Grounded in participatory action research (PAR), this mixed methods action research study sought to investigate the influence that targeted coaching could have on teachers' planning practices. The study was conducted in a K-8 Title I school and included four participants who engaged in targeted coaching and professional development designed to help them improve their planning practices. It utilized surveys, observations, artifacts, and interviews to answer the research questions. From the surveys, interviews, lesson plans, artifacts and coaching conversations, the Coaching Model for Effective Planning provided helpful and beneficial professional development that was readily adaptable and useful to the participants' classroom. In addition, the findings exhibited that coaching can influence planning whether formally by being written into lesson plans or by incorporating it into instruction. Furthermore, the findings also raised the question of teacher efficacy in coaching relationships as wells the impact of coaching.