Parent Aware: Perceptions of the Building Quality Relationship-Based Coaching Model

Parent Aware, Minnesota’s voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), engages early care and education (ECE) programs across the state in quality improvement. A primary goal of Parent Aware is to connect families to high-quality care that supports children’s well-being and school readiness. To achieve this goal, Parent Aware offers a variety of resources to help ECE programs implement best practices and receive a Rating. Programs that want additional support prior to being Rated can participate in a Building Quality Cohort and receive 20 to 60 hours of free Quality Coaching for up to 12 months to learn and implement kindergarten readiness best practices. Understanding more about the content, delivery, and providers’ experiences of the coaching model can inform the Minnesota Department of Human Resources’ decision making about Parent Aware implementation, including trainings for coaches, development of coaching resources, and how coaches individualize their coaching strategies and activities depending on the characteristics of the program.

The purpose of this summary is to report key findings from two data collection activities: 1) surveys of Parent Aware Quality Coaches (n = 51) who support programs in Building Quality, and 2) interviews with
early care and education programs (n = 8) participating in Building Quality.

Coaches engaged in the four elements of the Relationship-Based Professional Development (RBPD) cycle—observation, providing feedback, modeling, and reflection—across multiple visits, with some elements occurring more often than others.

• The majority of coaches (82%) reported using at least one of the RBPD elements during their in-person visits with programs. In addition, most coaches (76%) used more than one RBPD element.
• The most commonly used element was engaging in reflection: 84% of coaches reported using this at least once, with more than half (57%) engaging in reflection twice or more. The majority of programs (88%) reported that they engaged in reflection with their coach and that reflection occurred often throughout their relationship.
• Providing feedback was also very common: 77% of coaches reported engaging in this activity at least once, and nearly one-third of coaches (30%) used this element three or more times across the five months they were surveyed. Over half of the programs surveyed (63%) said that they greatly valued this feedback.
• Fewer coaches reported engaging in observations (56%); however, providers from all of the programs reported that their coach observed them often. Additionally, all providers reported that this activity was helpful.
• Out of the four RBPD elements, modeling or side-by-side experiences was the element least used by coaches (50%), with an even smaller number (20%) of coaches engaging in this element twice or more.