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Appendix A1: Dimensions of Mentor Coaching

A. Basic Dimensions
1. Type of Coach	Specialist ↔ Generalist Coaches in the education field are typically designed to either specialize in a particular subject, age group, or component of a program or to generally lead reform efforts (Neufeld & Roper, 2003). Specialists often are known as “Content Coaches” or “Subject Specialists,” while generalists are often called “change coaches,” “reform facilitators,” “change agents,” “program coordinators,” or somewhat confusingly, “turnaround specialists.” In early childhood education, coaches also vary in the degree to which they are generalists or specialists in a particular age group or subject (e.g., preschool literacy), with the additional terms of “Mentor Coach” or “Consultant” commonly used.
2. Type of Coachee	Novice ↔ Learner ↔ Expert Many coaches adapt their actions and their form, orientation, and style to the particular type of coachee and beyond that to the nature of each coachee’s needs as well as the coachee’s receptiveness to advice.
3. Purpose	Organizational goals ↔ Collegial Relations ↔ Personal Growth The primary purpose of coaching ranges from organizational (technical assistance for transfer to practice) to collegial (collaboration for building professional community or culture) to personal (challenge coaching for individualized problem-solving and growth).
4. Knowledge and Skills	Content Knowledge ↔ Pedagogical Content Knowledge ↔ Pedagogy ↔ Curricular Knowledge Most education coaching is focused on developing teachers’ pedagogy or instructional skills, strategies, and techniques. Within an area such as pedagogy, early childhood coaching may focus primarily on teacher-student interactions, behavior management, or family involvement, for instance. Early childhood coaching may also focus on building teachers’ knowledge and skills in various content areas, such as child development, cultural competence, family engagement/support, or mental health. Sometimes these elements are packaged into a curriculum, and knowledge of that curriculum is targeted.
B. Structural Dimensions
1. Authority	Formal ↔ Informal A formal coach performs the functions of coaching within a structure of dedicated time and a position designed to provide instructional leadership. An informal coach performs the functions of coaching but is a peer or “mentor” with no dedicated time, and is serving in the position of teacher. Note that coaches typically operate outside the formal lines of authority and do not play evaluative or supervisory roles (Mangin & Stoelinga, 2008).
2. Location	On-Site ↔ Off-Site Broadly, in education coaching, most attention has been paid to coaches located at the school building or program site. Many Comprehensive School Reform models and Reading First projects, and some districts, have created a position located at and dedicated to a single school in order to enhance coaching at that school. However, there are also examples of “push-in” or “pull-out” coaching, where coaches periodically visit the school site (e.g., AIR, 2005) or teachers travel to another school site to be coached. In the early care and education setting, it is more typical for a coach to regularly visit an early care and education program and unlikely for teachers to travel to another site to be coached. In other situations, videotape or distance learning technology can enable teachers to retain the inside-the-classroom setting but leave the school site to receive coaching (e.g., Pianta et al., 2008).
3. Ratio/ Span of Control	One Coachee ↔ One Age Group ↔ One ECE Program/Site ↔ Multiple ECE Programs/Sites Most information in the education literature has focused on coaches who are assigned to a single school or program (mainly due to prominence of school-wide Title I projects and the newness of the comprehensive school reform movement). However, in the early childhood field, it is likely that a coach is assigned to several programs and/or sites. In addition, in early childhood education programs, the coaching may focus on the lead teacher and/or the teaching assistant. Understanding the coachee-to-coach ratio is important, as it has implications for duration and frequency as well as cost.
4. Duration	Full Time ↔ Part Time
5. Frequency	Continuous ↔ Regular/Periodic ↔ Rare
6. Span	Multiyear ↔ One Year ↔ Less Than a Year
7. Age Level	Infant ↔ Toddlers ↔ Preschoolers ↔ K–12
8. Subject	Literacy ↔ Math ↔ Social Emotional ↔ Other
C. Procedural Dimensions
1. Form	Technical ↔ Collaborative ↔ Problem Solving ↔ Simple Support Coaching takes several forms, and several researchers have produced categorizations or lists of forms (e.g., Ackland, 1991; AIR, 2005). Each form is an amalgam of the other dimensions listed in this table, but it is likely that form can also provide a meaningful summary of various dimensions or perhaps form provides an understanding of the coaching role that is more than the sum of these dimensions. Technical coaching is characterized by the coach as expert or mentor. Collaborative coaching puts the coach and teacher both in the role of reciprocal learner. Coaching as problem solving involves “mirroring” in a facilitative style, and requires expertise in coaching but less expertise in the subject matter—as the coach mainly prompts the teacher to reflect and then solve the problem based on this introspection (e.g., cognitive coaching). Simple support is provided in all forms of coaching, which is defined by providing support and encouragement as an end in itself (e.g., providing materials so teachers can conduct lessons), rather than as a means to build rapport or change technical practice.
2. Needs Assessment	Teacher Requests ↔ Classroom Observations ↔Child Assessment Data Coaches can use various “data”—from teachers’ self-diagnosis, to coaches’ classroom observations of teacher behavior, to child assessment data—to identify topics and areas in which coaching might be beneficial.
3. Orientation	Active ↔ Passive Individuals can perform coaching functions either by actively seeking out people to develop and problems to solve, or instead by passively responding to requests for assistance or questions when asked.
4. Style	Directive ↔ Facilitative Individuals can perform coaching functions either by telling teachers what to do or by asking and eliciting self-reflection. It may be that coaches continuously adapt their orientation to their coachee or their purpose.
D. Quality Dimensions
1. Coach Knowledge and Skill and Dispositions	High ↔ Low The sets of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that coaches need to perform their work effectively are hypothesized to vary by context. Common skills cited in the coaching literature include (a) relationship building, (b) goal development, (c) planning, (c) observing, (e) questioning, (f) listening, (g) facilitating, (h) persuading, (i) conflict management, (j) cultural and linguistic competencies, (k) problem solving, (l) accessing resources, (m) working with administration, (n) instructing, and (o) working with adult learners. Common dispositions or personality characteristics cited in the literature include (a) credible, (b) having a positive attitude, (c) respecting others, (d) empathic, (e) motivating, (f) curious, (g) flexible, (h) organized/efficient, and (i) determined/relentless.
2. Role clarity	Clear ↔ Vague Clarity of role and specification of goals focuses coaches’ work on targeted areas (Powell et al., 2010). In contrast, broad or ambiguous coach roles and vague goals allow coaches the flexibility to allocate their time and energy where they determine they are needed, but also allow coaches to avoid tasks in which they feel weak or uncomfortable (e.g., providing “hard” or critical feedback, working on a less-familiar area of literacy or math). The coach’s role can be clarified through coach manuals, training sessions, developing a vision of desired practice, focusing on a specific program or curriculum, or providing tools for practice such as checklists and coach logs.
3.Relationship quality	Strong ↔ Weak The quality of the coach-coachee relationship(s) determines the degree to which the coach can influence the coachee. This dimension assesses the fit of the coach’s work to the individualized needs of the coachee as well as the positivity of coach-coachee interactions and the coachee’s trust of and attitudes toward the coach.
4. Task Enactment	High ↔ Low There is the degree to which the coaches enact the main behaviors involved in doing their work. Within the time available to coach (based on the dimensions of duration, frequency and span, and ratio), to what extent do the coaches make use of that time to perform the main behaviors of coaching rather than administrative tasks? These main coaching behaviors include individualized needs assessment, setting goals, planning, observing, providing feedback, co-teaching, modeling, presenting professional development, providing expert consultation, analyzing data, networking, supporting, prompting self-reflection, and motivating (see for example Rush & Shelden, 2005).

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