Reading First coaches in Pennsylvania were interviewed in order to gain a better understanding of the problems and possibilities of coaching. Thirty coaches volunteered to be part of the study. The coaches represented twelve districts across the state of Pennsylvania.
Data collection consisted of an interview created by the researcher. The interview instrument asked questions in the following areas: background and preparedness, time spent on "explicit coaching" activities, such as modeling and demonstrating, factors within the organization that helped or hindered the work of the coach, what coaches perceived their responsibilities to be, and what problems and possibilities there were with the jobs they performed.
Analysis of the interview data revealed that over half of the coaches did not feel prepared for the role when they first began coaching. An overemphasis on content knowledge in the professional development coaches received prior to coaching and the lack of consistency in schools of the expectations of coaches may have led to these feelings of unpreparedness. Coaches complete a myriad of tasks during a typical week. The work is seen as necessary and as requiring a long-term commitment on the part of the coach to build relationships with all staff members. Over time, the coach became an accepted part of the school culture. The way the principal embraced or did not embrace the role was instrumental in how quickly the coach was seen as valuable within the school. Experiences, both positive and negative, have been good teachers for each coach. Although coaching is a challenging position, it is one that has many rewards.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04162007-200053 |
| Date | 27 June 2007 |
| Creators | Carroll, Kathryn Eileen |
| Contributors | Charlene Trovato, Naomi P. Zigmond, Rita M. Bean, Isabel Beck, Gregory A. Morris |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04162007-200053/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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