Can virtual replace in-person coaching? Experimental evidence on teacher professional development and student learning

Virtual communication holds the promise of enabling low-cost professional development at scale, but benefits in-person interaction might be difficult to replicate. We report on an experiment in South Africa comparing on-site with virtual coaching public primary school teachers. After three years, improved students’ English oral language and reading proficiency (0.31 0.13 SD, respectively). had a smaller impact (0.12 SD), no proficiency, unintended negative effect home literacy. The top-performing students consistently benefited most. Classroom observations show that teaching practices, while led larger crowding-out time. Implementation survey data suggest technology itself was not barrier implementation, rather contact enabled more accountability support.