Key components of successful coaching

Key components of successful coaching  Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skill Promotion) is a large-scale, national research demonstration to test a one-year program to improve pre-kindergarteners' social and emotional readiness for school. To facilitate the delivery of the program, teachers attended training workshops and worked with coaches throughout the school year. In this report from MDRC, researchers present lessons learned from Head Start CARES about coaching social-emotional curricula in a large and complex early childhood education system. Key findings include: Successful coaches exhibited a combination of skills in three important areas: knowledge of the program, general coaching and consultation skills, and knowledge of and experience in early childhood development and/or teaching. Incorporating coaching into day-to-day practices requires flexibility and is necessary for implementation success. Site-level administrators must be actively engaged in supporting and supervising coaching as well as general implementation processes.

What makes for an effective summer reading program?  This study from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences tested the effectiveness of a summer reading program on improving student reading comprehension for economically disadvantaged grade 3 students reading below the 50th percentile nationally. As part of the program, students were sent a single shipment of eight books matched to their reading level and interest area during the first part of the summer. The shipment was followed by six weekly reminder postcards. Findings showed that the summer reading program did not have a statistically significant impact on student reading comprehension. However, the authors note that the study's conclusions are constrained by several aspects of the program's design, including that the program lasted just one summer and did not include teacher instruction and parent involvement. In previous studies, programs with these components were found to be effective.

It's not all about the money The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has published a new PISA in Focus review analyzing the results of their PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) study. It explores whether money "buys" improved performance for a country, and finds that higher expenditure on education does not guarantee better student performance. National wealth is important up to a point, and this research focuses on countries above a certain baseline. But, for relatively high-income economies, the success of the country's education system depends more on how educational resources are invested, than on the volume of investment. Investing in teachers and having high expectations for all students are cited as particularly important characteristics.

Later intervention can help with problem behavior A special issue of the Journal of Children's Services focuses on working with children and their families to reduce the risks of crime and delinquent behavior. One article, co-written by the Institute for Effective Education's Tracey Bywater, emphasizes that, in addition to programs for younger children, programs aimed at older children can also be effective. The authors found that there are increasing numbers of effective programs for children ages 9-13 that aim to reduce current or future involvement in criminal or delinquent behavior. These include school, family, and community programs.