Research on Cognitive CoachingSM has been conducted since 1988. Training Associate Jenny Edwards, PhD, has synthesized over 80 studies and has offered 10 outcomes as a result of the research. This annotated bibliography can be downloaded at https://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/cognitive-coachingsm-synthesis-research/. During the month of November, we will look at studies behind several of the 10 outcomes.

Outcome #3 – Cognitive CoachingSM impacted teacher thinking, causing teachers and administrators to be more reflective and to think in more complex ways.

In a study by Gonzalez Del Castillo (2015), three regular education elementary teachers who were teaching children who were linguistically diverse received Cognitive Coaching from the researcher. “Participants…pointed out the increase in their use of reflective practice” (p. 114). They also felt “empowered to use skills and practices they were familiar with, analyze them, modify them, and apply them in a new way as a result of their participation in the Cognitive CoachingSM cycles” (p. 115). They felt the support of others as they were using the new strategies for working with their students, and they valued having the opportunity to engage in dialogue with their coach. In addition, the participants indicated that having the opportunity to discuss their planned activities prior to the actual lesson delivery was helpful, because it allowed them to create a mental picture of their lesson, see what needed to be adjusted, and what additional planning was necessary. (p. 116).

Jaede, Brosnan, Leigh, and Stroot (2014) examined the influence of Cognitive CoachingSM on 28 middle school and high school mentor teachers in an urban setting. They found that the mentor teachers increased their ability to reflect on their practice, and they were able to assist their interns in reflecting on their practice. Their use of Cognitive CoachingSM enabled them to become better mentors by focusing on the thinking and learning of their interns. They were able to assist their interns in becoming more autonomous, “help the interns develop their own perspective about teaching, and create their own identity as a teacher in an urban context” (p. 22).