ABSTRACT
Teacher coaching can take a multitude of forms along a spectrum, from conversations about teaching approaches to specific individualized feedback and modeling. This chapter discusses the coaching approach used in the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative in Kenya during 2011-14. PRIMR was a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) program implemented by the Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology with technical support from RTI International. The central aim of the PRIMR program was to improve literacy pedagogy in Kenya, shifting from the overuse of whole-class oral repetition to explicit literacy instruction, including letter sounds, blending, and concept of word. Kenyan children's poor performance on literacy assessments has been well documented over the past decade. The Kenyan Ministry of Education (MoE) decided, based on the results of the PRIMR coaching model, to scale up the PRIMR coaching approach.
