The Impact of Student-Centered Coaching on the Implementation of Project-Based Learning: An Action Research Study

The present study describes a student-centered in-service that was implemented with four new teachers. The purpose of the study was to determine the level of confidence the four teachers felt after the coaching sessions. The study took place with teachers who teach in a high poverty school located in Greenville, South Carolina. The teacher-researcher is an Instructional Specialist at the school and she designed a project- based (PBL) learning unit with the teachers for ninth-grade students that was used in the coaching sessions in the fall of 2018. Data sources include: focus group interviews with the teachers; observations in the form of journaling during the coaching sessions, observations in the form of field notes during class periods, and a survey. The four teacher-participants reported feeling “more confident” implementing a PBL unit with high-poverty ninth-grade students and that “more time” was needed to plan future PBL units. An action plan includes school level planning with the school’s instructional coach to develop authentic learning experiences for all students in the school