When learning to implement a curriculum effectively, early care and education (ECE) teachers require ongoing feedback about their progress, along with multiple and frequent opportunities to practice. Curriculum-based coaching initiatives, in which coaches facilitate active reflection on a curriculum and mentor teachers on adapting and applying new concepts to different scenarios, can provide these important forms of support. Research suggests that these kinds of coaching initiatives can help build teachers’ capabilities and improve children’s outcomes. However, one downside to these initiatives is they can be complex and time intensive to implement.

This guide, for ECE coaches and organizations that provide coaching, is intended to support coaches in building a foundation for a strong partnership with teachers and to ease some of the challenges encountered during the initial stages of implementing a curriculum-based coaching initiative. It is based on technical assistance provided by MDRC and MEF Associates to coaches and ECE centers as part of the ExCEL Quality project, a large-scale study of approaches to improve classroom quality in preschool classrooms. This technical assistance was designed to support coaches focusing on curriculum implementation in Head Start and community-based child care centers serving a high proportion of children from families with low incomes. However, many of the strategies presented here can be applied to other types of coaching efforts as well.