The Effects of Coaching on Teacher Instruction and Student Achievement by Donna Gunderson

The following is an abstract report of a research project done in the third year of Cohort 1 coach Donna Gunderson.  The findings of this coach are typical of many of our other coached schools across South Carolina.  To read the research in its entirety, download the paper (Word Document).

The Mathematics and Science Unit of the South Carolina Department of Education responded to the challenge of increasing student achievement by developing the Coaching Initiative to train and then place math and science coaches in schools.  The role of the coaches is to provide teachers with staff development that will lead to improved instruction in order to increase student achievement.  In this research, 12 math teachers who had been coached for two years responded to a list of 12 mathematics best teaching practices on a reflective survey.  In addition, student math scores from the year before the Coaching Initiative began were compared to student math scores for the two years during which their teachers were coached.  It was evident from the reflective data results that best teaching practices had been more frequently used since the coaching intervention and student test scores did improve.  The implications of these findings are discussed.

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