Virtual Instructional Coaching: A Method for First-Year Teacher Professional Learning

Introduction

Three years into my teaching career, our small town school received a state-funded grant that allowed for the hiring of an instructionaI coach. As an early-career teacher, I had the opportunity to work with our coach. The work I engaged in with my coach transformed me from a good teacher to a highly effective teacher. As an early educator, I was fortunate to experience just how impactful personalized professional learning can be. Unfortunately, most new educators do not have access to a coach. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), only 36% of teachers nationwide have an onsite instructional coach. Increased access to instructional coaching would offer more teachers the opportunity to engage in personalized professional learning.

Instructional coaching is a model of professional development that incorporates Knowles’ (1970) tenets of andragogy (adult learning) and the principles of effective professional development (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Multiple definitions of instructional coaching exist, but similar coaching components emerge across descriptions. Denton and Hasbrouck (2009), Glover (2017), and Reddy et al. (2021) similarly describe coaching as a type of job-embedded, sustained support that meets the learning needs of teachers on an individual level. Knight et al. (2016) define instructional coaching as “one-on-one training of a teacher by a coach with the goal of improving instruction and student learning” (p. 273). Most recently, in their meta-analysis of 60 instructional coaching studies, Kraft et al. (2018) describe the coaching process as one where “instructional experts work with teachers to discuss classroom practice in a way that is individualized, intensive, sustained, context-specific, and focused” (p. 9). While multiple definitions exist, the core components of instructional coaching are similar across descriptions. Instructional coaching provides on-the-job problem-solving and collaboration for teachers, which results in highly effective instruction for students.

Personalized professional learning matters. Just as students deserve personalized learning experiences, so do the teachers who teach them. Instructional coaching yields higher levels of teacher professional growth than whole group workshop model professional development (Kraft et al., 2018). Teachers engaged in personalized learning are more effective in the classroom, and highly effective teachers are more likely to provide instruction that leads to higher levels of student achievement (Powell et al., 2010; Vernon-Feagans et al., 2015).

When teachers are more effective in the classroom, they feel more successful. In turn, they are less likely to leave the profession. (Reddy et al., 2021). Teacher retention is no small task. Approximately 40% of teachers leave education within their first five years, with nearly 10% leaving after the first year of being in the classroom. (Clandinin et al., 2015; NASSP, 2020). Providing personalized learning for first-year teachers is critical if we are to keep them from leaving the profession.