Enhancing Teacher Quality : Peer Coaching as a Professional Development Model

1. Enhancing Teacher Quality:Peer Coaching as a Professional Development Model Lisa B. Silver July 2009 Research Symposium

2. Introduction • Definition of peer coaching: using peers to achieve the goal of improving the teaching and learning process • Technical/ Team Coaching • Collegial Coaching and Cognitive Coaching • Challenge Coaching

3. Research Problem • There is a notable disconnect between professional development programs and classroom practice. • Well-researched curriculum and teaching models may not find their way into general practice because of a lack of support for implementation of the strategies. • Educational professionals need an effective means for increasing classroom implementation of training. The study of teaching and curriculum must be the focus.

4. Purpose • Explore how peer coaching can promote teacher self-efficacy to improve classroom instruction

5. Literature Review • In the 1980’s, Beverly Showers and Bruce Joyce tested hypotheses that regular coaching seminars would enable teachers to practice and implement the content they were learning in staff development. Consistent results showed that implementation rose dramatically. (Joyce and Showers, 1996)

6. Literature Review • Robert Ackland asserts that peer coaching typically operates as a process of collaborative planning, observation and feedback rather than as a formal evaluation or review (Ackland, 1991) • Charlotte Danielson “A Framework for Teaching..” Helping administrators move away from perfunctory evaluations; rather establish a common language about excellent instructional practices; help novice teachers, guide improvement of seasoned educators, foster professional dialogue (Danielson, 1996)

7. Literature Review • Perceived self-efficacy: people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance • A strong sense of efficacy enhances human accomplishment and personal well-being (Bandura, 1993)

8. Literature Review • Efficacy as related to Vroom’s Theory of Motivation E x I x V= motivation (1964) • Haberman’s “Pedagogy of Poverty” (1991)

9. Instructional and Transformational Leadership • Marzano, Waters and McNulty (2005) 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader: -Change Agent -Intellectual Stimulation -Involvement in curriculum, instruction and assessment -Optimizer • James MacGregor Burns “Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.” (from his bookLeadership, 1978)

10. The essence of peer coaching is for teachers to learn from one another while planning instruction, developing support materials, watching one another work with students and thinking together about the impact of their behavior on students’ learning.

11. Hypothesis • Regular peer coaching sessions, focused on classroom implementation of instructional strategies and analysis of teaching, will greatly improve teacher self-efficacy

12. Independent Variable: Peer Coaching Professional Development Model Dependent Variable: Self-efficacy for effective teaching practice Collecting Data

13. Research Design • Quasi-experiment between group design • Pre- and Post-Test using a self-efficacy attitude scale

14. Possible Confounds • Small sample size • Lack of random assignment • Teachers’ experience and dispositions

15. Research Setting and Participants • Amsterdam School Hillsborough, New Jersey • All Caucasian, Female Participants Control Group: Treatment Group: 24 teachers 6 volunteer teachers

16. Peer Coaching Sessions • Pre-conferences, observations and post-conferences arose out of teacher concern or curiosity • Regular reflection sessions among coaches provided time to share information about questioning techniques, assessment, parent involvement, classroom management and differentiated instruction

17. Measure of Efficacy • Based on Bandura’s Survey of Teacher Self-Efficacy and the Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale • 24-statement survey with a 7 point scale: (example) How certain are you that you can: ~Provide quality guidance and instruction to all students regardless of their ability level. • Assessed areas within efficacy including: instruction, adaptability, cooperation, motivation, change and discipline/management

18. Results

19. Results

20. Results

21. Results

22. Suggestions for Further Research and Study • Re-do the same research study with a larger sample to compare results • Correlate individual teacher self-efficacy with student achievement • Enhance teacher evaluation procedures by including data about self-efficacy

23. Conclusion “Promote professional learning through self-assessment, reflection on practice and professional conversations…” ~Charlotte Danielson A Framework for Teaching, 1996