Virtual and Remote Coaching in Social Studies

• In Event: Promoting Equitable Social Studies Education

Abstract

This year-long comparative case study investigates the perceived successes and challenges of two virtual coaching programs that employed the same set of four coaches to support social studies teachers. In one program they coached teachers “virtually” in their own well-resourced suburban mid-Atlantic district (V-SD), in the other program, which we are calling “remote” coaching, they coached teachers in a less well-resourced urban mid-Atlantic district (VR-UD) approximately 3 hours north. Teachers and coaches were unanimously positive about their experiences. Coaches highlighted the convenience and expediency of feedback, while teachers emphasized teacher-coach trust, coaches’ instructional knowledge, and alignment with school and district objectives as contributing factors to their positive experience.

Authors

• Abby Reisman, University of Pennsylvania

• Andrew del Calvo, University of Pennsylvania