An Investigation of a Peer Coaching Model on the Professional Learning and Teacher Self-Efficacy of Elementary Literacy Teachers

<p>Reading is one of the most important foundational skills for academic success, yet the teaching of reading is very complex. There is a need to support teachers with ongoing professional learning for quality literacy instruction. Peer coaching can be a meaningful, personalized, job-embedded form of professional learning for teachers (Robbins, 2015). The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the effects of a professional learning series about peer coaching on teachers’ individual self-efficacy for teaching literacy, teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy, and teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about peer coaching as a model for professional learning. The participants involved were elementary reading teachers who volunteered to learn about and practice peer coaching. This work details a summary of what was learned about the teachers who participated along with implications for the pursuit of a learning agenda focused on improving professional learning opportunities for teachers of reading.</p> <p>Key findings from the study revealed that peer coaching provided teachers with mastery and vicarious experiences which may have influenced their teaching self-efficacy. Teachers reported that peer coaching increased opportunities to collaborate with peers resulting in stronger collective efficacy. Peer coaching was found to be a valuable use of professional learning time with many benefits described by the participants in this study. This investigation provided evidence to support the claim that a voluntary peer coaching model is a powerful professional learning opportunity that creates an improvement culture within a school. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were provided.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

EdD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Professional Doctorate in Educational Leadership (ProDEL)

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Dellapenna, Amy M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Deborah Scigliano
• Rick McCown
• Amy Olson

• Collective Efficacy; Literacy; Peer coaching; Professional Development; Self-Efficacy

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/167

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1176