Coaching is a means of instruction that combines elements of mentoring and tutoring in natural community environments. Coach and student characteristics, processes of coaching, and outcomes of coaching in varied community settings and across different developmental levels are examined. Programs utilizing adults and peers from the community in fields such as sports, arts and crafts, music, and public speaking, expand the roles of peers, parents, and significant nonparental adults in children's cognitive development. This report reviews literature from sports, management, and research on teaching in informal settings to derive a functional definition of coaching. Coaching is a form of instruction that places the responsibility for learning on the learner, fosters the development and maintenance of skill through vigorous use of specific teaching practices, provides continuous feedback on performance in environments structured for practice and display of mastery, and provides social support. The review describes desirable qualities in persons who carry out the functions of coaches, specific strategies that coaches use to promote children's psychosocial development, and the influence of coaching on children's performance in school. Implications for future research and a reference list complete the document. (Author/LL)