Leadership Coaching for Educators
Bringing Out the Best in School Administrators
Empower your staff through coaching!
There is an urgent need for school leaders to go beyond “top-down” supervision and coach educators to succeed. Use this comprehensive resource to design and implement an effective, school-wide coaching system that yields powerful results. Aligned with the International Coach Federation’s Professional Coaching Core Competencies, this revised edition demystifies the coaching process and includes:
- Recent research projects, award-winning success stories, and trends in the field
- Guidance for school leaders on developing, designing, and implementing a successful coaching program
- Graphic organizers and practical examples of coaching dialogue
- Evaluation tools for coach development
An expert educational consultant and founder of The Change Place, LLC, the author is a former president of the New York State Staff Development Council.
“Leadership Coaching for Educators offers coaching tips and examples that can be easily adapted.
A major strength of this book is the focus on a current topic. The author provides the background, definitions, a foundation and steps necessary for successful coaching implementation.”
—Delsia Easley, Principal
W. E. Striplin Elementary
Gadsden, AL
“The work is very well organized and is presented sequentially. It is very easy to follow. The author makes a great case that a major part of the success of each player is dependent upon the coach and the coaching process.”
—Dr. Robert A. Frick, Superintendent (Retired)
Lampeter-Strasburg School District
“The author’s passion for coaching is evident. This makes the text more engaging and helps the reader to become more curious about exploring coaching a change strategy.”
—Ruth S. Johnson, Professor of Educational Leadership
California State University, LA
"Leadership Coaching for Educators offers coaching tips and examples that can be easily adapted. A major strength of this book is the focus on a current topic. The author provides the background, definitions, a foundation and steps necessary for successful coaching implementation."
"The work is very well organized and is presented sequentially. It is very easy to follow. The author makes the case very well that a major part of the success of each player is dependent upon the coach and the coaching process."
"The author’s passion for coaching is evident. This makes the text more engaging and helps the reader to become more curious about exploring coaching a change strategy."
"The education landscape is changing at a rapid pace. As educators, we realize the need for change and are constantly looking for ways to create excellent opportunities for our students. Knowing we need to change and knowing how to change are two very different concepts. In Leadership Coaching for Educators, Karla Reiss makes a compelling argument for leadership coaching as the means to facilitate organizational change. She provides valuable information on the ‘how to’ by providing the rationale and knowledge base we need in order to create a coaching culture in our schools. Reiss provides a 'practitioners model' of how everyone in education can benefit from a coaching model. Leadership Coaching for Educators shows how a coaching environment can improve efficacy and sustain initiatives that ultimately lead to student success!"
"Too many professional learning opportunities suffer from the learning-doing gap. Coaching is one of the best ways to close that gap. Coaching helps educators make changes in classroom, school, and district practices that improve student learning. Karla Reiss’s book takes both a theoretical and boots-on-the-ground approach to coaching, bridging the gap between learning and doing. Reiss’s analysis of recent research on coaching and the details she provides about mind sets, competencies and sub-competencies, and skill sets make this an powerful book for educational leaders and those who want to enhance their leadership skills. The examples and stories she provides make the learning concrete and help readers see themselves as leadership coaches. The scenarios, dialogues and coaching tips are particularly instructive, helping readers 'bottom-line' the essential details. Her positive approach to personal and professional change makes me want to embark on a coaching career or, even better, seek a coach myself. Her writing left me full of hope that education can change."
From the Author:
I propose to write a revised, updated edition of
Leadership Coaching for Educators;
Bringing Out the Best in School Administrators
. There are a number of significant
reasons why I believe the information contained in the original book is even more
significant today than it was when it was originally published. I believe the education
field will welcome the added and revised content.
When I initially started writing Leadership Coaching for Educators in 2006, the concept
of leadership coaching was by-and-large unheard of in schools. It was uncommon for
school leaders to have access to professional coaches to support them in their challenging
positions. It was uncommon for school districts to have a professionally trained skilled
and experienced cadre of coaches. It was also uncommon for school budgets to include
the cost of coaching.
A lot has changed in schools since the initial book was published in 2007. The initial
publication raised the awareness of district leaders and school board members of the
importance of providing this important support service to superintendents. Many new
contracts now include a budget for coaching during the initial hire. Many state education
organizations are sponsoring and supporting coaching initiatives. Many grants and
programs have been initiated to provide coaching services to new superintendents and
principals. It is no longer uncommon for leadership coaching to be available to new
leaders.
Chapter 1: Why Coaching? Why Now?
The revised version of this chapter will add:
• enhanced rationale for leadership coaching (and leaders learning to coach)
because of the growing requirements and regulations for new teacher and
principal evaluation systems. This trend is causing a boom in interest in coaching;
principals and their supervisors are now seeking to learn how to coach staff). This
section would now include trend and program data in various states.
• coaching program descriptions around the country (leadership, not instructional)
• updated data on the number of coaching professionals
• updated information (likely to be a subhead) on the growing number of states and
districts utilizing leadership coaching.
• updated research about coaching (from both business and education)
• include coaching definition of IAC; International Association of Coaching
This chapter can also be revised by omitting and/or reducing some information:
• condense and synthesize Defining Coaching, and description of the instructional
coach role. Page 6 reference to instructional coaching can be combined with
pages 11-13 Defining Coaching, and reduced.
Chapter 2: Getting Started as a Coach
This chapter describes how to “think like a coach”; mindsets and attributes successful
coaching should possess.
The revised version of this chapter will add:
• include/emphasize the importance of coachees having a choice of coach.
• suggest moving pages 42-55 more toward the beginning of the chapter (reasons to
coach).
Reduced length of each section.
• stories and experiences of new coaches and coachees.
• add a reference/page/summary - 12 Changemaster strategies
• add a section/subhead that shows the connection between neuroscience and
coaching
• define the difference between coaching conversations and an ongoing coaching
relationship
Chapters 3-5 Professional Core Coaching Competencies
I would prefer to leave these chapters primarily as is, with the exception of adding some
stories as examples of the competencies, from various professional educator coaches.
Chapter 6; Strategies to Break Through Resistance
The revised version of this chapter will add:
• updated research and reports on creating successful change
• include some cross-over information from the 12 Changemaster strategies; for
example: visioning techniques
• include studies/reports from neuroscience; how coaching strategies lead to lasting
change, as brain science has shown.
• This chapter can also be revised by omitting and/or reducing some information:
• delete pages 140-143 The Cycle of Change
• delete pages 144-146 The Four Laws of Change
• reduce Possibility Thinking subhead, if space is needed.
Chapter 7 Powerful Coaching in Action
The information in this chapter is still current and important. Small changes are below.
The revised version of this chapter will add:
• examples of coaching conversations from various coaches, using only education
scenarios, regarding goal setting and action planning.
Chapter 8; Implementing Successful Coaching
The focus of this chapter is on building successful internal coaching programs.
The revised version of this chapter will add:
• add a subhead referencing teacher and principal evaluation systems, and the
accompanying
• need for coaching skill to foster change in the classroom, as well as enhanced
principal
• leadership.
• greater focus on the concept of Trust, especially given the increase in the
frequency of teacher observations.
• coaching as a strategy for providing feedback following teacher observations.
(and principal observations)
• add specific examples of principal:teacher coaching conversations (and
supervisor: principal)
Conclusion
This section would be revised to include research references and principal/teacher
evaluation systems. In addition, summarizing the new data reported throughout the book
will be synthesized.
