Coaching (and) commitment: Linking ongoing professional development, quality teaching, and student outcomes

This research conducted in primary schools in Northern Australia evaluated theeffectiveness of the web-based program ABRACADABRA as a tool to complementearly childhood literacy instruction in an Australian and Indigenous context. A furthercomponent of this research was to monitor implementation fidelity. The ABRA training was built around professional development best practices to address the challenges of providing ongoing training in remote areas. Teachers attended a one day workshop that trained in the use of ABRA and continued learning was reinforced by pairing them with a literacy coach. Data was gathered through an implementationfidelity measure, researcher field notes, focus groups, teacher logbooks, and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation tool. This paper outlines challenges and successes the researcher/coaches experienced while supporting teachers.