Date of Award

8-2018

Rights

© 2018 Cindy Ramdial-Budhai

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

William Boozang

Second Advisor

Suzan Nelson

Third Advisor

Scott Fritz

Abstract

Florida public school teachers, in compliance with No Child Left Behind Act (2001), seek to teach through mastery of Florida State Standards. Literacy coaches support teachers to ensure students master these standards. Research about the impact of instructional coaches at the elementary and middle school levels exists, but research is limited about the impact of coaching at the high school level. This mixed-methods study was influenced by the idea of scaffolding connected to the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky,1978), tracking progress during mastery learning (Slavin, 1987), and the teaching map of instructional strategies (Marzano, 2017). Participants in this study included a Florida literacy coach and three Intensive Reading and three English Arts teachers. The research question is: How might instructional coaching impact the instruction of teachers as they seek to improve instruction? Data was collected through initial and exit surveys, interviews, and observations which tracked responses about the three coached interventions of small-groups, professional development, and tracking student progress. The results of this study indicate that the coach supporting teachers with the implementation of small-groups or rotations is not closely related to the impact of the coach during the mastery learning process. Coaching for small-groups or rotations was not confirmed as interventions that all participants felt helped improve their instruction. Support from a literacy coach can have a positive impact on instruction during the mastery learning process in other areas. School-based professional development has a positive impact on instruction. Findings suggest that the coach can improve instruction by assisting with tracking student progress. Recommendations include: literacy coaches should continue to be trained on high-yield strategies to continue to impact instruction of English Language Arts and Intensive Reading teachers, administration should offer enough time for a literacy coach to support teachers in the classroom and support of coaching initiatives, and schools should increase the availability of tools to track student progress. School staffs and students can benefit from having a literacy coach who, following a plan, can positively impact instruction.

Comments

Ed.D. Dissertation

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