First 5 California just released an evaluation report for their CARES Plus program. The results show that educators who participated in MyTeachingPartner (MTP) Coaching, currently known as 1:1 Video Coaching, significantly improved their Classroom Organization and--most important--their Instructional Support scores! To quote from the report:

“[S]ignificant gains in Instructional Support were made only by participants in the MyTeachingPartner™ (MTP™) track. MTP, as a professional growth and coaching model, may hold the most promise for improving the quality of interactions between teachers and young children.”

CARES Plus takes a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of early education. All teachers in the program are required to complete core elements, which include the online Introduction to the CLASS Tool . After that, teachers can choose from three options:

  • Higher education coursework in early childhood

  • Evidence-based training

  • MTP coaching

This evaluation showed that MTP coaching was the only option that led to better Instructional Support.

Why did it work? Here are the elements we think contributed to success:

MTP coaching is proven to improve interactions when implemented with fidelity:

  • It focuses directly on educator-child interactions
  • It is intensive enough to bring about real change

First 5 California has worked hard to implement MTP coaching with fidelity by:

    • Holding information sessions for leaders across the state

    • Hiring experienced and enthusiastic coaches

    • Encouraging educators to complete as many MTP coaching sessions as they could


    Teachstone supported the coaches by:

    • Training them in the MTP process

    • Holding one-on-one and group calls to help coaches do their best work


    Coaches supported teachers by:

    • Forming strong, positive relationships with them

    • Helping educators see their interactions in a new light

    • Building on educators’ strengths

    • Using video from educators’ own classrooms to help them truly see and improve their interactions

We are delighted that the hard work--on the part of educators, coaches, MTP staff, and our colleagues at First 5, is paying off.