Coaching in the use of a trauma-informed intervention

Abstract

While the literature supports the claim that instructional coaching is beneficial to classroom teachers in the improvement of their use of evidence-based strategies, there is not a plethora of research studies that have specifically applied coaching to trauma-informed strategies at the individual teacher level. The purpose of this single-case, Multiple Baseline Design study is to determine what effect coaching might have on teachers’ use of a trauma-informed response strategy. Statistical and visual analysis indicates that it was effective and a functional relation was found between teachers’ use of a trauma-informed response strategy and instructional coaching. Maintenance and Social Validity data were collected and analyzed as well. When coaching was provided to teachers on how to use a specific trauma-informed strategy, results indicated a functional relation and effect sizes, ranging from small to large, for the three classroom teachers. The implications of this study highlight the need for education administrators to consider incorporating coaching into their professional development models to assist teachers in implementing trauma-informed strategies. Limitations of this study were noted and the implications for future research were addressed. Keywords: *coaching, *teachers, *trauma-informed interventions