Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy: A Research Partnership Addressing Web-Mediated Approaches

• In Event: Research and the Nature of the Collaborative Partnership: Insight on What Was Learned

Abstract

We will describe how we forged and maintained a research-practice partnership with our public school colleagues. This partnership was essential for informing the iterative development of a web-mediated early childhood language and literacy professional development intervention. Funded through the Investing in Innovation program, this new model is based on an effective in-situ intervention. As we translated the face-to-face model into a largely web-mediated approach, we partnered with educators to ensure that the resulting intervention was feasible and effective in real-world classrooms serving children at risk. Specifically, an educator advisory board provided ongoing input about the professional development. Further, pilot teachers completed the training and provided feedback through a survey about the usability and effectiveness of the training modules, coaching, and instructional strategies in classroom settings. Findings suggest that research-practice partnerships that gather teachers’ situated, comprehensive, and insightful perspectives can be invaluable in developing these interventions. In our presentation, we will place particular emphasis on specific mechanisms that the university- and school-based partners employed, over several years, to build general trust and mutual understanding, as well as to share specific project-relevant information and co-construct an effective professional development model.

Authors

• Emily Snell, Temple University

• Annemarie H. Hindman, Temple University