Through the looking glass: Can classroom observation and coaching improve teacher performance in Brazil?

Entrepreneurship education and teacher training in Rwanda

“…8 The outreach component builds on studies of other training programs with similar follow-up for trained teachers (e.g., Beuermann et al 2013;Abeberese, Kumler, and Linden 2014;Piper and Zuilkowski 2015). The exchange visits resemble a form of teacher coaching (e.g., Bruns, Costa, and Cunha 2018;Albornoz et al 2018;Cilliers et al 2019), except that trained teachers received feedback from peers rather than professional coaches.…”

“…Rwanda's curriculum reform represents a major shift in pedagogy from traditional knowledge acquisition to student-centered, active learning. Many other efforts to alter pedagogy have a similar goal of promoting active learning, such as the early grade literacy program studied in Kerwin and Thornton (2015) and the teacher coaching program studied in Bruns, Costa, and Cunha (2018).…”

Characteristics of effective teacher education in low- and middle-income countries: What are they and what role can EdTech play?

“…At the same time, virtual coaches may be able to effectively support peer facilitators. In the Brazilian state of Ceará, school-based pedagogical leaders observed teachers in the classroom before using Skype to share their feedback with a virtual coach who would give advice on strategies to improve teaching ( ⇡Brazil: Bruns, et al, 2018 ). After one year, teachers at participating schools spent more time on instruction and increasingly used interactive teaching practices ( ⇡ibid.…”

Skills and Jobs in Brazil: An Agenda for Youth

“…Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru all either have in place or are developing such systems. Some Brazilian states, like Ceará, have also taken important steps in this direction (Bruns, Costa, and Cunha 2017). 15 Finally, coupling large public investments in in-service teacher training with rigorous impact evaluations is necessary to ensure the cost-effective use of resources.…”

“…15. Bruns, Costa, and Cunha (2017) have evaluated a program to improve teachers' effectiveness by using an information "shock" (benchmarked feedback) and expert coaching to promote increased professional interaction among teachers within schools. The program significantly increased teachers' use of class time for instruction and, consistent with its objective of fostering interaction among them, reduced the variation in their practices.…”