Teacher coaching programs improve teachers' instructional practice by a pooled 0.49 SD across 43 causal studies¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 1 quant-synthesis r?, 1 qualitative r2 · q2–q4 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-15 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i2 Across causal studies of teacher coaching, the pooled effect on teachers' instructional practice is 0.49 SD, with substantial variability across programs (random-effect SD 0.33). → Kraft 2018

q2 i? A meta-analysis of 60 experimental or quasi-experimental studies found strong positive effects of coaching on educators' instruction and modest effects on student outcomes. → Schachner 2024

q2 i? Effects appear larger for content-specific coaching programs, smaller coaching programs, and coaching combined with traditional professional development. → Schachner 2024

Evidence¶

Kraft 2018¶

Kraft, M.A., Blazar, D., Hogan, D. (2018). The effect of teacher coaching on instruction and achievement: A meta-analysis of the causal evidence. Review of Educational Research, 88(4), 547-588. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318759268

q4 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r?

Random-effects meta-analysis (RVE) of 186 instructional effect sizes from 60 causal studies of coaching programs; pooled estimate 0.49 SD with between-program random-effect SD of 0.33 SD, indicating "substantial variability across programs".

"Across all 43 studies that included a measure of instructional practice as an outcome, we find a pooled effect size of 0.49 standard deviations (SD). The associated standard deviation of the estimated random effect – a measure of the variation in effect sizes across programs – is 0.33 SD"

Schachner 2024¶

Schachner, A., Yun, C., Melnick, H., & Barajas, J. (2024). Coaching at scale: A strategy for strengthening the early learning workforce. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/984.909

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

The report's literature review attributes this to a recent meta-analysis of "60 experimental or quasi-experimental studies" in P-12 settings, reporting "strong positive effects of coaching on educators' instruction" and modest student-outcome effects. No effect sizes are printed.

"A recent meta-analysis of 60 experimental or quasi-experimental studies found strong positive effects of coaching on educators’ instruction—with similar impacts of coaching shown for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school teachers—and modest effects of coaching on student outcomes."

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Does coaching teachers on their classroom practice change their observed instruction? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 17 narrower claims that bear on it: 14 distinct studies (4 review, 4 causal, 3 associational, 2 qualitative, 1 quant-synthesis), q2–q4, 2 of 14 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

- - Parent Coaching Outperforms Information Only — related - Teacher coaching raises student achievement on standardized tests by a pooled 0.18 SD across 31 causal studies — related - Coaching program effects shrink substantially at scale: effectiveness trials of larger programs show only a fraction of efficacy-trial effects — related - A practitioner review reports a meta-analysis of causal coaching studies as finding positive effects of coaching on teachers' instructional practice and student achievement, though one contrasting study found coached teachers no more effective — possibly the same claim (merge candidate) - Coaching effects on instruction and achievement are positively correlated, but large instructional improvements are needed for modest achievement gains — related - A teacher-coaching CAL program produces significant intent-to-treat gains in elementary and middle school math performance of 0.12-0.22 standard deviations — related - Early Reading First improved instructional content and practices in preschool classrooms — a narrower finding that bears on this claim - Coaching and expert support appeared in 30 of 35 studies, with coached classrooms showing larger gains in a randomized trial — related - Professional development produces moderate improvements in teachers' skills for implementing inclusive education (g = 0.49) — related