Peer coaching and peer review are professional development strategies for educators to consult with one another, to discuss and share teaching practices, to observe one another's classrooms, to promote collegiality and support, and to help ensure quality teaching for all students.

In peer coaching, usually two teachers (though sometimes three or more) come together, share in conversations, and reflect on and refine their practice. Their relationship is built on confidentiality and trust in a non threatening, secure environment in which they learn and grow together; therefore, peer coaching is usually not part of an evaluative system.

Similar to peer coaching, peer review pairs an experienced consulting teacher with either a new teacher or a veteran teacher who needs assistance. The pair observe each other's classrooms and share ideas, skills, and study materials, with the mentor providing instructive feedback and recommendations to the novice or struggling teacher. Peer review has one added element that is not part of peer coaching: The consulting teacher conducts formal evaluations and makes recommendations to the participating teacher's supervisor regarding his or her employment status.

Why Use Peer Coaching and Peer Review?

Both strategies provide job-embedded, ongoing professional support. Peer coaching is effective for the following reasons:

• It encourages reflection and analysis of teaching practice.
• It promotes specific feedback over time.
• It fosters collaboration among teachers throughout the school building.

As a result, teachers experience positive changes in their teaching practice.

Peer review is an effective way of ensuring quality teaching and helping inadequate teachers improve. Proponents prefer peer review to traditional principal evaluations, because principal evaluations may be rushed, superficial, or perfunctory. Peer review does not have to replace more traditional methods of evaluation, however, but can deepen and expand the processes of accountability. Peer review also allows teachers to take a more active role in their professional development. Because peer review can lead to changes in employment, teacher unions often have been involved in the implementation and evaluation of peer review programs.

How Do I Get Started?

Setting up and implementing peer coaching and peer review programs is not hard, but they can be time consuming. Indeed, time is a crucial factor. Coaches and consulting teachers need ongoing training and support. Pairs or teams of teachers must have time to meet, research, and collaborate. Teachers also need time in their class schedules to observe their peers during the school day. Peer coaches and reviewers often receive a stipend for the extra time commitment involved.

Selecting partners can be a sensitive issue—some programs encourage self-selection, whereas others recommend a more structured approach. Trust between and among peers is an essential component. Because most coaching and review strategies involve some form of classroom observation, teachers need both a preconference, in which they meet to discuss the lesson purpose, the classroom dynamics, and what to look for during the observation; and a postconference, in which they review the lesson, model new strategies, and collaborate on improvement.

The success of peer coaching and peer review often depends on the environment of the school. Is there a climate of collegiality? What has been the traditional review process? Do teachers feel comfortable taking risks and asking for help? Is there ongoing staff development to encourage and model peer coaching and peer review? What is the administration's role? These questions must be addressed throughout the process of implementing peer coaching or peer review.

Read More About It

To read about the various types of peer coaching, click here.

Other Resources on Peer Coaching and Peer Review

• Peer Assistance and Peer Review: An AFT/NEA Handbook, by the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, 1998, Washington, DC: Author.

• Peer Coaching for Educators, by B. Gottesman, 2000, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

• "Peer Review of Teaching: New Roles for Faculty," by P. Hutchins, AAHE Bulletin, Vol. 47, No. 3, 1994, pp. 3-7.

• "The Coaching of Teaching," by B. Joyce & B. Showers, Educational Leadership, Vol. 40, No. 1, October 1982, pp. 4-10.

• "Peer Assistance and Peer Review," R. K. Rogers & D. Threatt, Thrust for Educational Leadership, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2000, pp. 14-16.