The Impact of Coaching to Support Professional Development in a Preschool Classroom

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the effect that the combination of coaching and professional development have on teachers’ confidence levels and number of classroom practices carried out compared with teachers who only attend professional development. The participants included six female caucasian teachers who all teach preschool in public elementary schools in southern Iowa. Data was collected through the use of a rating scale and checklist of practices that were completed by the participants prior to and following the intervention. The results of the study indicated that there was not a large enough difference in the scores to determine if the coaching intervention led to higher levels of classroom teaching practices or a higher confidence rating. This conclusion could be due to the small sample size. The researcher suggests further studies be conducted with regards to number of participants, data collection tools, and participants with varying ethnicities, genders, and socioeconomic status