An Integrative Framework for Assessment in Coach Education and Development

This chapter focuses on the findings from a research project with the English Football Association (FA), exploring how coaches reasoned with and responded to project-based assessment as a feature of the FA Level 3 (UEFA B) in coaching football programme. The purpose of this chapter is to propose three principles of assessment, which if considered have the potential to drive positive outcomes through coach education and development programmes. First, the ways in which coaches engage with success criteria and develop an accurate view of what good looks like are suggested to be important. Next, navigating sophisticated approaches to assessment requires sophisticated skills and capabilities. Coach education and development programmes are encouraged to focus not just on what the coach should know and understand, but also on the skills necessary to demonstrate that knowledge and understanding. Finally, the importance of coaches’ networks of support is stressed, with specific reference to collaboration as a key feature of efficacious assessment experiences. The integrative nature of these principles is illustrated in a framework, intended to be useful to coach education and development programme designers and deliverers.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003472438