/ Coaching the Coach: Building Capacity for Practice-Based Coaching

Coaching the Coach: Building Capacity for Practice-Based Coaching

The role of practitioner coaches is to use Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) to build the capacity of early childhood practitioners to effectively use Pyramid Model practices to foster positive outcomes for young children. But who supports their knowledge and skill building?

Join us for a conversation featuring a program implementation coach and a practitioner coach as they share their experiences, practical strategies, and lessons learned in building the capacity of coaches within their early childhood program. Whether you are a program leader, coach, or professional development provider, this discussion will offer valuable perspectives on developing a sustainable coaching system.

Date:

Aug 27, 2025

Time:

3:00 PM

(Eastern Time Zone)

Duration:

55 Min

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Guest Presenter(s)

Gia Walsh

Sonoma County Office of Education

Gia Welsh, Ph.D., is an early childhood school psychologist. She began supporting Pyramid Model implementation in a variety of preschools and childcare programs beginning in 2010 when she worked in Pennsylvania. While there, she also served as a member of the Pyramid Model state leadership team where she was a part of a cross-systems collaborative group who worked together to build an infrastructure to support Pyramid Model implementation throughout the state. Gia now resides in California where she is the local program lead at the Sonoma County Office of Education working with a team of coaches, in collaboration with Vanderbilt University and University of South Florida, to support Vanderbilt’s EIR expansion grant, in which they are implementing and studying the impact of Pyramid Model trainings paired with Practice Based Coaching in PK/TK and kindergarten classrooms. 125%

Amanda Tamagni

University of South Florida

Amanda Tamagni, Ed.D., is a Learning and Development Facilitator in the Department of Child and Family Studies, at the University of South Florida. She provides technical assistance and training on evidence-based early childhood practices and supporting young children with disabilities. She provides support to programs to build their capacity for implementing high-quality early childhood settings. She has a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Social Work from the University of Louisville, an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Walden University, and a graduate certificate in Positive Behavior Support from the University of South Florida. Amanda previously provided technical assistance and training with the state technical assistance center to school districts in the state of Florida. In this role, she worked to build district capacity, create district infrastructure, support the implementation of evidence- based practices, and support young children with disabilities in early childhood environments. Her interests include the prevention of exclusionary discipline in early childcare, supporting young children with disabilities in high-quality early childcare settings, supporting teachers through practice-based coaching in evidence-based practices, and the implementation of program wide positive behavior support.

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