In Illinois, coaching is available to early childhood professionals wanting to improve their practice. However, coaching can mean different things to different people. This Q&A provides answers to questions about early childhood coaching.
What is coaching in early childhood?
Coaching is a way for educators to become better at their work with young children and their families. Coaching can help the educator improve their skills and knowledge in the field of early childhood education. This type of personalized, field-based professional development, is often found to be very effective in improving the quality of young children’s experiences with educators. For more information about best practices in coaching, read The 5 Features of Successful Coaching.
During a coaching session, an educator is paired with a coach. The coach typically comes to observe an educator during their workday and makes observation notes. Afterward, they have a chat with the educator. Together, they discuss the practices observed, identify practices that are working well, and come up with ideas for making some improvements to their teaching. This type of coaching is also called 1:1 expert coaching. There are other types of coaching that are less frequently used with early educators, including self-guided, peer, and group coaching. Coaching is an ever-changing field in education, and definitions and types of coaching may change.
Who benefits from coaching?
Coaching is for any professional working with young children, regardless of setting. Coaching can help educators improve their teaching practices. New or experienced educators can all benefit from coaching.
What makes a good coach?
A good coach is an attentive listener and observer. A good coach can watch an educator at work, take important notes, and be ready to share strategies the educator can use to improve their work with children and families. A good coach also encourages reflection and helps educators plan for their future practice. A skilled coach is frequently an accomplished educator who uses their wealth of experience in their mentoring capacity.
A coach is usually not an evaluator or supervisor, as holding multiple roles can be confusing to the educator. Coaching notes or plans should not be used as an annual teacher evaluation report or a way to determine rank or salary.
How should coaching feedback be received?
An early childhood professional who is ready to receive feedback about their teaching and implement some strategies that may be new to them would be a good candidate for coaching. An educator who is also willing to critically evaluate their teaching practices and share their own ideas with the coach can benefit from coaching.
Some coaching programs are designed specifically for new educators, while others may focus solely on literacy or social-emotional development within the curriculum. In these specialized coaching scenarios, educators with a desire to focus on and improve their teaching practices in those specialized areas would be ideal to receive coaching.
What types of coaching are available in Illinois
In the Spring of 2026, these are the options available for coaching in Illinois. These options may change, so reach out to your director or school principal for additional information and resources.
Practice-based coaching (PBC) is available for teachers working in Preschool for All (PFA) and Preschool for All Expansion (PFA-E) classrooms. Programs that participate in the project are either recommended by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) based on their quality improvement plans or request a coach through an application process. This type of coaching, also offered in a virtual format, is provided by the Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning (ECPL). Learn more about practice-based coaching on the page ECPL Coaching Project.
Early Choices focuses on the inclusion of students with disabilities in public Pre-K settings. Early Choices provides training to practice-based inclusion coaches, enabling them to support teaching staff in Community Inclusion Teams from targeted Illinois school districts. The goal of Early Choices is to increase inclusive early childhood special education services. Learn more about Early Choices on their main webpage.
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (I/ECMHC) can be another way to receive professional coaching. This program has a focus on children with challenging behavior and children with potential disabilities or developmental delays. Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants team up with early childhood education and care programs to help the staff and adults who care for and teach young children. Learn more about I/ECMHC on the page What is Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation?
The Pyramid Model offers coaching on how to prevent and address challenging behavior in young children to targeted centers and schools throughout Illinois. Learn more in the IEL resource list Getting Started with the Pyramid Model. Contact the Illinois Pyramid Model State Leadership Team for more information about Pyramid Model coaching.
For those professionals working in early intervention, coaching, as well as reflective supervision, might be good options to explore. More can be learned in the resource list from the Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse on Coaching and Reflective Supervision in Early Childhood.
Additional opportunities for coaching may be available through specific schools or organizations. Some coaching opportunities are no-cost, and others may require a fee. Review any requirements before committing to coaching.
IEL Resources
- Resource List: Getting Started with the Pyramid Model
Web Resources
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The 5 Features of Successful Coaching
Source: Brookes Publishing
Coaching techniques are increasingly being used by early childhood programs to strengthen professional learning initiatives and better support families and children. This blog highlights five features of successful coaching.
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Coaching and Reflective Supervision in Early Childhood
(also in Spanish)Source: Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse
This resource guide will introduce educators to important books, videos, and information resources on coaching and reflective supervision available from the Early Intervention Clearinghouse and other sources.
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Early CHOICES
Source: Illinois State Board of Education
This is a Preschool Least Restrictive Environment initiative of the Illinois State Board of Education. The project promotes increasing high quality inclusive education for each and every preschool aged child by providing technical assistance and professional development to early childhood professionals and families in Illinois.
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ECPL Coaching Project
Source: The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning (ECPL)
The ECPL Coaching Project, provided through The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning, partners with Early Childhood Care and Education staff, families, and community stakeholders to support sustainable reflective practice that drives continuous quality improvement, which allows for high quality outcomes for educators, children, and their families.
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Illinois Pyramid Model State Leadership Team
Source: Illinois Department of Early Childhood
The Illinois Pyramid Model State Leadership Team collaborates with the Pyramid Model Consortium to train Illinois early childhood professionals across the state in professional development systems that work together to strengthen interagency collaboration at the state and local levels.
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What is Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation?
Source: Illinois Department of Early Childhood
This website provides information about Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (I/ECMHC) for educators and families in Illinois. Short videos, research, and resources are provided.