Transformational Coaching: A Holistic Approach to Building Principals' Self-Efficacy and Promoting Equity in Educational Leadership

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 10:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Improving Educational Leaders’ Capacity to Engage in Equity-Oriented Leadership (Table 6)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact that transformational coaching had on early-career principals’ instructional leadership self-efficacy and retention rates in New York City Public Schools. Transformational coaching is a holistic approach centered on equity-focused leadership practices. Of the 456 early-career principals who were assigned an ICF trained coach between July 2017, and June 2021, 84 principals participated in the Principal Sense of Efficacy Survey, sharing their perceptions of their instructional equity-focused leadership abilities. The number of years that principals received coaching was a significant predictor of their instructional self-efficacy perceptions. Principals who received coaching had higher retention rates than those that did not. The study has crucial implications regarding sustained change for educators and policy makers.

Authors

• Matthew Pearson, New York City Department of Education

• Joan I Birringer-haig, St. John's University