Promoting Teachers' Implementation of Classroom-Based Prevention Programming through Coaching: The Mediating Role of the Coach-Teacher Relationship

There is growing awareness of the importance of implementation fidelity and the supports, such as coaching, to optimize it. This study examined how coaching activities (i.e., check-ins, needs assessment, modeling, and technical assistance) related directly and indirectly to implementation dosage and quality of the PAX Good Behavior Game, via a mediating pathway through working relationship. Mediation analyses of 138 teachers revealed direct effects of modeling and working relationship on implementation dosage, whereas needs assessment was associated with greater dosage indirectly, by higher ratings of the working relationship. Understanding how coaching activities promote implementation fidelity elements has implications for improving program effectiveness. [This paper was published in "Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research" v45 n3 p404-416 2018.]