Coaching and Supporting Staff

The planning and implementation of interventions related to functional skills are based on collaboration between team members, whether they are involved in one or in more stages of the intervention. It is important that each member understands exactly the nature of their responsibilities and that they perform their tasks rigorously.

Evidence-based interventions are precise and often require specific techniques established by research (e.g., prompting, reinforcement, self-management). When an intervention is implemented with a learner, it is essential that the person(s) responsible follow precisely the instructions in order to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention.

In this section, you will learn more about Behavioural Skills Training (BST), an evidence-based intervention often used to train the staff of companies or organizations. You will also review the essential aspects of ongoing staff coaching.

Behavioural Skills Training (BST)
The team member who plans the intervention is not necessarily the same as the one responsible for implementing it with the learner. For example, the resource teacher plans an intervention, but the educational assistant is responsible for the implementation. In this case, the resource teacher must make sure that the educational assistant understands the nature of the intervention and their tasks.

Behavioural Skills Training (BST) is a training strategy that can be used both to ensure the correct and accurate implementation of an intervention and to teach various skills to a learner. It can therefore be used to teach one or more skills necessary for the implementation of an intervention (e.g., prompting, reinforcement and/or chaining). Whether with learners or adults, there are five steps to follow when applying BST. Click on the following tabs to learn more about each step.

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Repeat steps 1 through 5 as necessary until the individual performs the skill correctly and independently.

Click below to see an example of a BST session between a teacher and an educational assistant.



Ongoing Coaching and Monitoring
In order to ensure the quality of the implementation of the intervention as well as the learner’s progress, a designated member of the team must offer ongoing coaching to the other members of the team. When planning interventions, the team designates the person responsible for ongoing coaching. This person must be familiar with the intervention, be familiar with data collection, and have the opportunity to observe the learner in the environment where the intervention will be implemented. However, it is not necessary that the person responsible for training team members also be the person responsible for the ongoing coaching. For example, it is a resource teacher who trains an educational assistant in Behavioural Skills Training, but it is a team member mentor at the school district who provides the ongoing coaching.

Ongoing coaching involves planned observation sessions where the designated person observes the implementation of the intervention and collects data on the learner’s performance and on the accuracy of the implementation of the intervention. Ongoing coaching is essential to the success of the intervention and must be taken into account when planning interventions. Click on each of the following elements to learn more about the importance of ongoing coaching.


Whatever the intervention chosen, it is necessary during the planning stage to designate a person responsible for ongoing coaching and to plan a coaching schedule for all team members who participate in the implementation.

Collecting Data on the Learner’s Performance
One of the objectives of ongoing coaching is to collect data on the learner’s performance. It is, of course, the staff member implementing the intervention who is responsible for collecting this type of data, but it is important that an external source checks it to prevent occasional errors from creeping in. Ongoing coaching therefore allows a second person to validate the data and confirm the learner’s progress. This process guarantees the accuracy of the data on which decisions are based.

Collecting Data on the Accuracy of the Intervention’s Implementation
Another objective, and probably the most important, of ongoing coaching is to collect data on the accuracy of the implementation of the intervention. The coach must confirm that the staff member implementing the intervention performs each of the following components:

• Gather and prepare the necessary teaching materials,
• Carry out the steps of the intervention according to their descriptions,
• Collect exact data on the learner’s performance during the intervention,
• Analyze the data correctly to determine the next step(s).

The Observation Tool for Ongoing Coaching below can help the individual plan their ongoing coaching sessions. The tool has a space to write down any other component that the individual considers essential and that they wish to observe in the staff members.

Observation Tool For Ongoing Coaching

Establishing a Coaching Relationship
Here are some tips to foster a positive climate of collaboration during ongoing coaching:

• Discuss ongoing coaching when planning the intervention. All team members should be aware that this is an essential step in the process. Inform all team members that it is through ongoing coaching that you can make informed decisions and ensure the learner’s progress.
• Share the data collection sheets with staff members before the observation sessions, so that they become aware of the elements that you are looking to observe.
• Establish a schedule for the observation sessions in collaboration with the team members involved.
• Inform the team members of the objective of the observation session. For example, indicate if you want to observe a specific part of the intervention, or if you want to collect data on learner performance.
• Inform the learner of the reason for your visit, particularly if they are not used to your presence.
• Plan a meeting with the staff member after the observation session in order to provide your feedback. To the extent possible, this meeting should take place immediately after the observation session. Take the time to sit together to chat, in a quiet place (avoid quick meetings during the break, when other people are around you and you are likely to be distracted).
• Share your observations by reporting objective facts. Review your data collection sheet, and make a copy for the staff member, if desired.
• Reinforce the positive aspects of the work carried out by the staff member.
• Provide constructive corrective feedback and clearly explain to the staff member what they can do to improve their performance. Suggest doing a behavioural skills training session if you feel the staff member could benefit from it (e.g., “I noticed that you used physical prompting with the learner four times. Since the goal is for the learner to be able to perform this movement independently, I encourage you to gradually switch to partial physical prompting and then gestural prompting. Would you like us to practice together?”)
• Encourage the staff member to ask questions or share comments about the observation session.

Frequency and Intensity of Ongoing Coaching
Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine how often observation and ongoing coaching should take place. This choice is based on professional judgment and depends on many elements, including:

• The level of complexity of the intervention, the strategies that are used, and the consistency in the implementation of the intervention,
• The learner’s pace of acquisition and the need to adjust the interventions,
• Previous training of staff members and their experience in implementing similar interventions, and
• The schedule of all team members involved.

The ideal would be to provide as much coaching as needed. In reality, it is often necessary to choose key moments and take advantage of the opportunities that arise in order to collect the necessary data. From a professional and ethical point of view, we must still offer sufficient training and ongoing coaching to ensure that the interventions are implemented as we had planned, that the staff members feel sufficiently supported, that staff skills are maintained and that learner skills development is progressing at a satisfactory pace.

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Example: Sylvia

Sylvia is 13 years old. Her team is meeting to discuss the results of the Comprehensive Assessment for Learning and Independence (CALI) – Functional Skills for Independence. Ms. Brown, the resource teacher, suggests teaching the targeted skill using task analysis and chaining. Ms. Ross, educational assistant, and Ms. Price, teacher, will both have an important role to play during the implementation of interventions at school. Sylvia’s parents would also like to learn more about the intervention so they might implement it at home. The team asks Ms. Brown to train Ms. Ross, Ms. Price, and Sylvia’s parents using Behavioural Skills Training (BST).

Question: In order to save time, Ms. Brown decides to use BST with Ms. Ross and Ms. Price at the same time. What do you think of that decision?



Question: Since Sylvia’s parents also want to learn more about the intervention, Ms. Brown decides to e-mail them the data collection sheets with additional explanations. She also communicates directly with Sylvia’s mother by phone to answer her questions. What do you think of that approach?



Question: Ms. Brown first offers a BST session to Ms. Price and then asks her to show the procedure to Ms. Ross. What do you think of that decision?



Ms. Brown followed the BST steps and trained Ms. Ross and Ms. Price, who are now ready to implement the intervention with Sylvia. Ms. Brown also did a few BST sessions with the student’s parents so they could implement the intervention at home. Ms. Brown, the person responsible for the team’s ongoing coaching, starts by observing Ms. Ross on February 9. Here is the Observation Tool For Ongoing Coaching filled out by Ms. Brown:

Observation Tool For Ongoing Coaching – Sylvia
Question: At this stage, what would be the next steps to take to prepare for the intervention?



Question: How can Ms. Brown manage the ongoing coaching of Ms. Ross and Ms. Price?



Question: How often should Ms. Brown offer ongoing coaching to Ms. Ross and Ms. Price?