The secret sauce of effective interventions: Ongoing teacher coaching

The secret sauce of effective interventions: Ongoing teacher coaching
By Qiyang Zhang, Johns Hopkins University
Flashcards and quizzes are widely used pedagogical practices among educators. Typically, such interventions only involve teacher pre-treatment training but not on-going coaching. A recent publication in Journal of Educational Effectiveness explored a popular flashcard intervention called SAFMEDS (Say-All-Fast-Minute-Every-Day-Shuffled). This research aims to examine the effectiveness of implementation support for SAFMEDS.
 
Researchers conducted this half-year experiment in North Wales’ primary schools in the United Kingdom. They adopted a school-level cluster randomization-controlled trial, where treatment schools (n = 33) received on-going support from researchers and control schools (n = 31) only received necessary technical assistance. The on-going support was composed of three one-hour school visits and email communications between researchers and teachers. Researchers observed the process and gave individualized feedback to each teacher. The outcome of interest was children’s arithmetical fluency measured by Mathematics Fluency and Calculation Tests (MFaCTs).
 
The results provide evidence for small but positive effects of implementation support. Specifically, the effect size was +0.23 for students in grades 1-2 and +0.25 for students in grades 3-5. In-situ coaching has multiple assumed benefits, including enhanced student engagement and outcomes, better implementation fidelity, and opportunities for regular check-ins and adaptations based on suggestions. As the research has suggested, infrequent but accessible on-going support may be the secret sauce to improve intervention effectiveness.

Views: 135

▶ Reply to This

JOIN SL 2.0

SUBSCRIBE TO

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP 2.0

Feedspot named School Leadership 2.0 one of the "Top 25 Educational Leadership Blogs"

"School Leadership 2.0 is the premier virtual learning community for school leaders from around the globe."

---------------------------

 Our community is a subscription-based paid service ($19.95/year or only $1.99 per month for a trial membership)  that will provide school leaders with outstanding resources. Learn more about membership to this service by clicking one of our links below.

 

Click HERE to subscribe as an individual.

 

Click HERE to learn about group membership (i.e., association, leadership teams)

__________________

CREATE AN EMPLOYER PROFILE AND GET JOB ALERTS AT 

SCHOOLLEADERSHIPJOBS.COM

New Partnership

image0.jpeg

Mentors.net - a Professional Development Resource

Mentors.net was founded in 1995 as a professional development resource for school administrators leading new teacher induction programs. It soon evolved into a destination where both new and student teachers could reflect on their teaching experiences. Now, nearly thirty years later, Mentors.net has taken on a new direction—serving as a platform for beginning teachers, preservice educators, and

other professionals to share their insights and experiences from the early years of teaching, with a focus on integrating artificial intelligence. We invite you to contribute by sharing your experiences in the form of a journal article, story, reflection, or timely tips, especially on how you incorporate AI into your teaching

practice. Submissions may range from a 500-word personal reflection to a 2,000-word article with formal citations.

© 2026   Created by William Brennan and Michael Keany   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service