Coaching as an Implementation Strategy: The Perceived Alliance Between a Coach and Teachers Predicts Proactive Classroom Management Strategy Use

Abstract

Building an alliance is a well-documented and critical therapeutic process. Considerable evidence has established a significant relationship between the quality of the alliance among a therapist and their client and changes in clients’ behavior. Like the therapeutic alliance, school-based coaches and teachers navigate their working relationship with the goal of modifying or altering practices in the classroom to promote youth’s healthy functioning. Yet, little is known about the coach-teacher alliance. Using data from two randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of classroom management coaching interventions, this study explored whether the alliance between teachers and the coach in the studies predicted teachers’ implementation of classroom management strategies. Results from 83 teachers working with one coach indicated that the coach, but not teachers’, report of the overall quality of the alliance significantly predicted teachers’ use of proactive classroom management practices. The findings add to the existing literature on the importance of the coach-teacher alliance in the coaching process. Limitations of the study and implications for research and practice are discussed. Impact Statement Coaching is a commonly used in schools to support teachers’ implementation of new practices. This study found that the alliance between one coach and teachers during coaching for classroom management significantly predicted teachers’ use of effective strategies. This study highlights the importance of focusing on relationships when school-based coaches (e.g., school psychologists, school personnel) are working with educators to adopt and use interventions.