Program

Education Doctorate

Number of Pages

113

Year Approved

2021

First Advisor

Reimer, Tracy

Second Reader

Cindy Hansen, Marta Shaw

Abstract

As students' assessment scores in the United States continue on a downward trend, school districts across the nation seek ways to improve the quality of instruction. A proven strategy to enhance teacher quality, and subsequently student achievement, is to provide educators with professional development opportunities. A teacher training approach gaining momentum in schools involves instructional coaching as a practice with promise to increase students' achievement. This study examined the Instructional Coaching Program of a secondary school where students made significant academic gains to explicitly define the instructional coaching model that improved teacher pedagogy and increased students' achievement. In addition, this single-site qualitative study aimed to outline how the Instructional Coaching Program was sustained. Education leaders identified having a vision and goals to provide purpose, defining system guidelines and roles, and integrating multiple support systems as essential components of an effective instructional coaching program. The educational leaders identified continuous collaboration and communication, ongoing financial investment, and success as important factors that sustain an instructional coaching program. The Minnesota Department of Education Quality Compensation plan was found to provide guidance for education leaders to design and implement an instructional coaching program that meets the needs of their teacher and student populations.

Degree Name

Education Doctorate

Document Type

Doctoral dissertation

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