Date of Award

5-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

H. Stanton Tuttle

Second Advisor

Ruth Reynolds

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The current study addressed the use of instructional coaches in a suburban high school district. Teacher perceptions of both the qualities of instructional coaches and the use of cooperative learning in the classroom were measured. Cooperative learning is a research-based instructional strategy that has a long history of increasing student achievement. The studied district used the Johnson and Johnson cooperative learning model, and adopted an instructional coaching model based on the work of Knight. In the investigated district, most teachers had been trained in the basic use of cooperative learning and all teachers received support from an instructional coach. The researcher administered a demographic questionnaire, the Classroom Life Instrument – Teacher Perception Survey, and the Instructional Coaching – Teacher Perception Survey to selected teachers in the district. The results indicated that instructional coaches demonstrated a strong adherence to the Knight model. In addition, correlations were found between various measures of cooperative learning and the instructional coaching partnership principles of equality, choice, dialogue, praxis, and reciprocity. The Knight model was shown to be successfully implemented in this district. It is recommended that instructional coaches maintain a presence in the classroom and that teachers should maintain choice over what they are being coached on. Further study is needed to determine what qualities of an instructional coach would make the relationship with a teacher a successful one, and to determine if instructional coaching is a viable support for other research-based instructional strategies

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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