Instructional Coaching as a Key Driver for MTR’s Teacher Preparation Quality and Early-Career Retention
By: megan salemi, director of education
Coaching isn't just for beginners—it’s a powerful tool for lifelong professional growth and increasing student achievement.
When I joined Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) almost 5 years ago, one of the earliest experiences that made a very powerful impression on me was a 3rd year teacher joining a staff meeting to share about the impact her coach had on her. This early career teacher shared that she was sure MTR staff knew how much impact coaches had on a teacher’s classroom. She knew, by all accounts, that she seemed like a very strong teacher in her building and had growing student outcome data to back that up.
But she wanted us to know that she wouldn’t have made it through her 3rd year of teaching without her coach.
While the time spent with her coach in Year 3 was less than Year 1, she said that the tailored instructional coaching deepened her content planning and delivery, while keeping her focused on student data. It allowed her to do what she signed up to do for her students. Coaching helped her stay in the classroom. When she and I chatted recently about my recollection, she added, “My coach helped me feel like I could grow and develop and build a career in education.”
Instructional coaching is a key driver of MTR’s pre-service training and early career retention and development model, ensuring that residents and early career teachers receive individualized, real-time coaching that accelerates their development into effective educators.
Dr. Atul Gawande (in “Personal Best”) reflected that no matter how skilled someone is, an external perspective can reveal blind spots and drive further progress. While watching a tennis tournament, Gawande noticed the coach on the sidelines for each player and noted about coaching, “Nearly every élite tennis player in the world” has a coach. Research from EdResearch for Action underscores the importance of structured, content-focused coaching as one of the most effective components of early-career teacher induction. When novice teachers receive at least 90 minutes of coaching weekly or biweekly, they show significant improvements in instructional effectiveness and classroom management. Memphis Teacher Residency trains teachers using the Residency model, which embraces the evidence-based approach of embedding coaching throughout the residency year, allowing teachers to refine their skills in a high-support, practice-based environment. By prioritizing frequent observation, modeling, co-teaching, and targeted feedback, MTR equips residents with the tools they need to excel from their first day as teachers.
For the past 15 years, over 600 teachers have successfully completed their pre-service training through MTR, with 90% of those completers teaching for at least 3 years after their Residency year as the teacher of record in a Memphis high-needs school. With a current median career in Memphis education of 5 years, over 50% of MTR graduates are still working in Memphis high-need classrooms and leadership positions in their 5th year after graduation.
On the 2024 TN Teacher Prep Report Card released by the TN Department of Education, 75% of MTR trained cohort members earned a student growth score (TVAAS) of 3 or higher, with 45.5% of these cohort members earning a student growth score (TVAAS) of 4 or higher, nearly doubling the state average of 24.5%. These results demonstrate that MTR’s robust coaching not only enhances teacher preparedness but also leads to measurable student achievement gains. Coaching helps support teacher readiness during teacher preparation and contributes to long-term student success in teachers’ early career years.
Beyond student outcomes, MTR coaching fosters a culture of trust, professionalism, and continuous improvement, as reflected in qualitative survey data. Using an internal measure designed to measure coach effectiveness, residents and graduates consistently rate their coaching experiences as effective on a 0-5 point scale, with 4.93 and 4.96 ratings, respectively, for professionalism and respect. Responsiveness is also a key strength, with residents rating coach communication 4.90 for responding within 48 hours. Additionally, residents expressed confidence that their coaching feedback was aligned with MTR’s development framework (4.86 rating), while graduates affirmed their trust in coaching feedback (4.86) and coach availability (4.84). These high ratings indicate that our coaching model is not only effective in building instructional capacity but also in fostering meaningful, supportive relationships that sustain teachers beyond their residency year and is responsive to the school context in which teachers work.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) defines coaching as a key part of ongoing, context-specific professional learning that provides support so that teachers and leaders are guided and encouraged to reinforce and sustain the use of new skills in practice, especially when facing challenges. Coaching is also likely to decrease professional isolation that could lead to attrition. Without coaching, staff may revert to familiar practices instead of adopting new methods or leave the profession altogether.
The evidence from research and practice is clear: high-quality coaching is a critical driver of teacher effectiveness, student success, and educator retention. By integrating sustained, targeted coaching throughout the Memphis Teacher Residency program, we leverage the power of coaching in developing skilled, confident educators who are well-equipped to make an immediate impact in their classrooms.
As we continue to refine and expand our coaching efforts, Memphis Teacher Residency remains committed to ensuring that every teacher we prepare is positioned for long-term success in the profession.
