The Peer Coaching Process: Selecting Goals and Targets

In this section, the process of peer coaching is defined, beginning with the terms.

Goal: The Global Area of Concern; The Priority for Improvement

Goals for peer coaching may be similar to the goals parents and professionals have selected in developing the individualized education programs (IEP) for a child. These goals are general areas of skill development derived from the common concerns of parents and teachers for the child’s unique needs. Goal areas are likely to target improved performance in one of the functional domains of development such as

• Self-help skills
• Communication
• Fine-motor skills
• Social-emotional behavior
• Cognition
• Gross-motor skills
• Vision
• Hearing
• Nutrition

Adult Coaching Target: A Measurable Description of Behavior

Unlike the child’s IEP, target objectives for peer coaching are adult behaviors that strongly influence child behavior. A description of the adult coaching target in observable and measurable terms ensures a mutual understanding between partners of the specific adult behavior to be observed and recorded. An observable behavior is a concrete description of a specific action. To be measurable, it must have a clear beginning and ending point. Thus an adult coaching target is written in such a way that it answers each of the following questions:

• Who?
• Will do what?
• When and where?
• How well or for how long?

In addition, to be considered a functional target for peer coaching, the adult coaching target must be a behavior that can be observed and measured within a relatively short period of time. Remember, peer coaching observations generally are limited to 15-20 minutes in length.

Anticipated Impact on Child Behavior: The Desired Effect of Adult Coaching Target on the Child’s Behavior

A meaningful adult coaching target is one that directly influences a child’s behavior. Any adult behavior that has a positive impact on child behavior makes an effective coaching target. Thus, when selecting a coaching target, the adult has in mind the change s/he hopes to effect in the behavior of the child. Like the adult coaching target, this anticipated change in child behavior is described in terms that are both observable and measurable.

Data Collection Methods: The Means of Observing and Recording Relevant Behaviors

The inviting partner determines how she wants the coach to collect data during the observation of her target behavior. She then designs a data sheet to collect information that will answer the question of “how well” she is progressing toward her mastery criterion.

Mastery Criterion: A Percent or Number Selected by the Inviting Partner to Indicate When His or Her Target Behavior Has Been Satisfactorily Demonstrated

It is up to the inviting partner to decide what criterion will be used to verify that s/he has learned or is demonstrating the target behavior at a mastery level. In contrast to the child’s IEP, adult mastery criterion may stay the same from one session to the next, or can be revised as necessary by the inviting partner.

Maintenance Criterion: The Number of Times Mastery Criterion is Reached Before a New Target Behavior Is Selected

The maintenance criterion is the number of times the inviting partner wants to meet the mastery criterion during observations by her peer coaching partner before moving on. The purpose of the maintenance criterion is to help ensure that the new skill will become part of the inviting partner’s repertoire.

How to Choose Effective Adult Coaching Targets

Where Do Adult Coaching Targets Come From?

Target behaviors for peer coaching may come from a number of sources, including:

• The child’s IEP
• The adult’s prior experience with the child
• Observation of the child in specific setting(s)
• Transdisciplinary team meetings
• Information from training modules
• Brainstorming between coaching partners

What Kinds of Adult Behaviors Make Good Coaching Targets?

Good coaching targets are adult behaviors with the potential for strongly impacting the child’s behavior in a positive manner. In general, adults influence children in one of four ways.

1. Reinforcing: through attention, praise, rewards
2. Teaching: through modeling, demonstration, direct instruction
3. Assisting: through gestural, verbal, and physical prompts
4. Arranging the environment: through selection of time and place, activity, materials, and the presence of other children and adults

A review of the child’s IEP could suggest a number of appropriate adult coaching targets. For example, any child objectives that include adult reinforcement or assistance can be converted to adult coaching targets. However, if not derived from the child’s IEP or prior assessment, observation may be necessary before an appropriate adult coaching target can be selected. This kind of observation provides a baseline against which the effect of the proposed adult intervention can be measured. One purpose of such an observation is to identify which methods of adult control described above seem to exert the greatest influence on the targeted child behavior.

Sample Coaching Targets
Derived from Child IEP Objectives

Example 1

Child Objective: Play with toys appropriately for 10 minutes without adult assistance.

Adult Coaching Target: Every 2 minutes, Mom will verbally reinforce child for staying with toys, 5 consecutive times.

Example 2

Child Objective: Use spoon to feed self with decreasing adult assistance.

Adult Coaching Target: Teacher will gradually fade assistance during feeding by waiting 5 seconds for child to pick up spoon before providing partial physical prompt.

As we have learned, an effective adult coaching target is one that describes who will do what, when, where, and how well or for how long. Further, it is a behavior that can be assessed by a coaching partner during a 15-20 minute observation. Not every desired change in adult behavior requires the systematic feedback of a trained peer coach, however. In deciding if the behavior an inviting partner has chosen to work on is an appropriate coaching target, it is helpful to consider these four questions:

1. Is this a behavior that the inviting partner has tried to change on his or her own without success?
2. Is this a behavior that the inviting partner cannot perform and measure simultaneously?
3. Is it difficult or impossible for the inviting partner to measure her own and the child’s behavior simultaneously?
4. Is this a behavior that cannot effectively be recorded and measured on audio or videotape?

< Previous

1 2 3 4

Next >