How to improve teaching practice? Experimental comparison of centralized training and in-classroom coaching

Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15/2018
 
Publication date: August 2018
 
Author(s):
[protected email address] (McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University)
[protected email address] (University of Witwatersrand’s School of Education, South Africa)
[protected email address] (University of Witwatersrand’s School of Education, South Africa)
[protected email address] (Department of Basic Education, Government of South Africa and Research Associate of the Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch)
 
Abstract:

We experimentally compare two modes of in-service professional development for South African public primary school teachers. In both programs teachers received the same learning material and daily lesson plans, aligned to the official home language literacy curriculum. Pupils exposed to two years of the program improved their reading proficiency by 0.12 standard deviations if their teachers received centralized training, compared to 0.24 if their teachers received in-class coaching. Classroom observations reveal that teachers were more likely to split pupils into smaller reading groups, which enabled individualized attention and more opportunities to practice reading. Results vary by class size and baseline pupil reading proficiency.

 
JEL Classification:

I20, I21, I28

Keywords:

South African Education, Randomised Experiment, Teacher coaching and training, Early Grade Reading Study

Download: PDF (2.1 MB)

Login

(for staff & registered students)



Need a password?
Forgot your password?

Upcoming Seminars

No seminars are currently listed. Please check back soon.
 
More...

BER Weekly

26 January 2024
Domestically, the theme of the week centred around monetary policy and inflation, with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) making its first repo rate decision of the year on Thursday. Furthermore, Stats SA released both consumer and producer price inflation data for December. Globally, monetary policy was also important, with the European Central Bank (ECB),...

Read the full issue
 

Upcoming Seminars

No seminars are currently listed. Please check back soon.
 
More...

BER Weekly

26 January 2024
Domestically, the theme of the week centred around monetary policy and inflation, with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) making its first repo rate decision of the year on Thursday. Furthermore, Stats SA released both consumer and producer price inflation data for December. Globally, monetary policy was also important, with the European Central Bank (ECB),...

Read the full issue