Coaching as an Implementation Strategy: The Perceived Alliance Between a Coach and Teachers Predicts Proactive Classroom Management Strategy Use 

Abstract

Building an alliance is a well-documented and critical therapeutic process. Considerable evidence has established a significant relationship between the quality of the alliance among a therapist and their client and changes in clients’ behavior. Like the therapeutic alliance, school-based coaches and teachers navigate their working relationship with the goal of modifying or altering practices in the classroom to promote youth’s healthy functioning. Yet, little is known about the coach-teacher alliance. Using data from two randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of classroom management coaching interventions, this study explored whether the alliance between teachers and the coach in the studies predicted teachers’ implementation of classroom management strategies. Results from 83 teachers working with one coach indicated that the coach, but not teachers’, report of the overall quality of the alliance significantly predicted teachers’ use of proactive classroom management practices. The findings add to the existing literature on the importance of the coach-teacher alliance in the coaching process. Limitations of the study and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Impact Statement

Coaching is a commonly used in schools to support teachers’ implementation of new practices. This study found that the alliance between one coach and teachers during coaching for classroom management significantly predicted teachers’ use of effective strategies. This study highlights the importance of focusing on relationships when school-based coaches (e.g., school psychologists, school personnel) are working with educators to adopt and use interventions.

Keywords:

• consultation
• classroom intervention
• service-delivery models

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:

• Tyler Renshaw

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grants R305A130143 and R305A100342 to the University of Missouri (PIs: Wendy Reinke and Keith Herman, respectively). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Notes on contributors

Shannon R. Holmes

Shannon R. Holmes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri and faculty affiliate with the Missouri Prevention Science Institute. Dr. Holmes’ research interest include implementation science, the measurement and promotion of fidelity, and family-school partnerships.

Tyler E. Smith

Tyler E. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri and faculty affiliate with the Missouri Prevention Science Institute. Dr. Smith’s research primarily focuses on parent involvement in education, family-school partnerships, school consultation, rural school mental health, and effective school-based interventions.

Monica E. Romero

Monica E. Romero is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Romero’s research focuses on four lines of inquiry: (1) developing and evaluating culturally and linguistically responsive interventions and assessments, with a focus on oral language and literacy development for emergent bilingual/multilingual learners; (2) investigating the role of language environments at home and school among Spanish-Speaking Latinx/e students; (3) family engagement practices for newcomer students; and (4) training of bilingual school psychologists.

Wendy M. Reinke

Wendy M. Reinke is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Curators’ Professor in the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology, and co-director of the Missouri Prevention Science Institute at the University of Missouri. Dr. Reinke’s research focuses on the prevention and treatment of childhood emotional and behavioral disorders; school-based consultation; family-based interventions; mental health and schools; and developmental psychopathology.

Keith C. Herman

Keith C. Herman is the Curators’ Distinguished Professor in Educational, School & Counseling Psycholog and the co-director of the Missouri Prevention Science Institute at the University of Missouri. Dr. Herman’s research focuses on developmental psychopathology and school mental health; prevention and treatment of child depression; and parent, family, and school interventions.