Attaining Equitable Quality Improvement at Scale: Variation in Coaching and Curriculum Uptake

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Programs aiming to provide high-quality early education at scale have relied on “the strongest hope” model for quality improvement (Klein & Gomby, 2008; Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2021). This model poses that implementing an evidence-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum paired with professional development and job-embedded coaching are key mechanisms to attain quality. However, evidence on how professional development and coaching function when implemented at-scale is scarce. In this panel, we examine variation in coaching and curriculum implementation across programs at the national, state, and district level.  

The first paper describes teachers’ participation, adherence, and quality in the implementation of two distinct curricula and professional development interventions across 10 localities throughout the U.S.. Initial results indicated that even when coaching dosage is high, implementation quality of the assigned curriculum was moderate. The second paper describes the use of Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) at the state-level, focusing on differences by program type to identify disparities in use of PBC. Results indicated components of PBC are not consistently practiced, with some differences by program type. The third paper describes teachers’ perceptions of their training in an evidenced-based curriculum supported by coaching at the district-level. Findings show variation in curriculum implementation regardless of coaching dosage and good coaching relationships. The final paper focuses on multilingual interactions in classrooms implementing a domain-specific curriculum at the district-level. Findings show high variation in teachers’ use of children’s home-language with distinct instructional purposes. Together, these papers respond to calls for systematic implementation science related to professional development and job-embedded coaching. 

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chairs

• Hillary Ross Lewis, Oregon State University - Corvallis

• Paola Andrea Guerrero-Rosada, Texas A&M University - College Station

Discussant

• Amy Taub, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City

Individual Presentations

• Describing Implementation of Characteristics of Practice-Based Coaching Within a State’s ECE Programming - Presenting Author: Bridget E Hatfield, Oregon State University - Corvallis; Hillary Ross Lewis, Oregon State University - Corvallis; Katherine C Pears, Oregon Social Learning Center; Michael Connor, Oregon Early Learning Division; Jordan Moore, Oregon State University; Maya Johnson, Oregon State University - Corvallis

• Scaling Quality in a Universal Pre-K program: Teacher Perceptions of Curriculum and Coaching Supports - Presenting Author: Paola Andrea Guerrero-Rosada, Texas A&M University - College Station; Louisa Penfold, Harvard University; Christina J Weiland, University of Michigan; Yuzhu Xia, Boston Public Schools; Mariam Dahbi, Harvard University; Catherine E Snow, Harvard University; Anne Taylor, University of Michigan; Rachel Kushner; Meghan Patricia McCormick, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Jason Sachs, Boston Public Schools