An Assessment of Instructional Coaching: Results of a Survey of Selected School Districts in South Carolina

The purpose of this study was to determine teachers\u27 perceptions of instructional coaching. Four research-based instructional coaching best practices were identified for the development of a survey. The four instructional coaching best practices were: collaborating with teachers to address school-wide instructional concerns and practices, collaboratively planning with a teacher to identify when and how an instructional intervention might be implemented, modeling instructional practices in teachers\u27 classrooms, and observing teachers and providing teachers with feedback. Data were collected through the researcher constructed Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Instructional Coaching survey. Elementary teachers in four school districts in the Upstate of South Carolina participated in this study. An analysis of the data was conducted utilizing descriptive statistics as well as measures of central tendency. The results showed that teachers perceive the utilization of instructional coaching best practices for their instructional benefit as occurring below the usually range but above the sometimes range. The results of the study also determined that teacher demographic data, collected in the areas of level of education, years of teaching experience, and education as a first career, had no statistical significance on teachers\u27 perceptions. Following an analysis of the data, recommendations for further research included a qualitative study of teachers\u27 perceptions and principals\u27 support and understanding of instructional coaching best practices as well as the professional development provided to instructional coaches on best practices