Leadership, Policy, and Instructional Coaches' Working With Teachers: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Longitudinal Data

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Section 1: Leadership

Abstract

Research has shown that instructional coaching is a promising approach to providing job-embedded professional development to teachers. Individuals with strong instructional coaching skills may be difficult to find, and employing them relatively costly (Snow, Ippolito, & Schwartz, 2006; Knight, 2012). However, some research suggests that a relatively small proportion of coaches time is spent actively working with teachers (Knight, 2012). In a mixed-methods, six exceptional longitudinal cases are drawn from a sample of 85 instructional coaches in order to investigate the changes in leadership and organizational context associated with changes in coaches’ time spent in administrative activities. Our findings suggest an influential role of leadership expectations and district policies in shaping coaching activities.

Authors

• Brooks A. Rosenquist, Vanderbilt University

• Britnie Delinger Kane, University of Colorado

• Thomas M. Smith, University of California - Riverside