Importance of Coaching Instructional Leadership When you think of assistant superintendents and school principals many don’t think of them needing further education. They’re the supervisors of those who are educating others, after all. Some would think that since they’re in the higher positions within a school they are therefore beyond the need for further training and coaching. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. According to Bill Nye, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” We all strive to improve, but sometimes we don’t know how to go about this. We need some help to shape our goals and figure out how to improve ourselves. Continued coaching offers growth and understanding about the best ways to supervise school staff.
The necessary training needed for these careers is only the minimum of what someone choosing to become a principal or assistant superintendent might need. Understanding the best ways to accomplish their duties and how to handle the responsibilities, as well as developing skills in communication, organization, and improvement strategy are the things one learns from coaching. In careers as multifaceted and broad as that of a school system supervisor, the more skills you can acquire, the better for everyone involved, including the students. In a work environment, everything trickles down. When a principal or an assistant superintendent is unorganized or stressed, it puts more pressure on the teachers, cafeteria workers, and others employed within the school. This in turn affects the students.
While there is no doubt that coaching is vital to principals and assistant superintendents who wish to perform the best they can at work, opportunities to be coached are not occurring often enough or are not being taken advantage of as they should be. Only about 66% of principals take parts in coaching activities according to the Edutopia website. Among this percentage, the majority of these principals agreed that the coaching was beneficial to them and aided them in some way, showing that these opportunities will aid principals.
There is already an alarming rate of dissatisfaction among school principals in the US, with a high turnover that disrupts schools and everyone in them. Among the reasons for this dissatisfaction are inadequate compensation, greater than average expectations, and a lack of authority in the decision making process. Another of the issues principals had was they didn’t have enough professional development opportunities. When things in any work place are going wrong, good leaders understand that they need improvements in order to create a better environment. However, when they don’t have the means to make those improvements it leads to frustration and bitterness, which usually is repeated in those these principals and assistant superintendents supervise.
The benefits of these professional development opportunities stretch beyond the satisfaction of those taking advantage of the coaching. The Institute for Employment Studies found that employees who were coached felt an increase in well-being at work. While their focus was on employees in more of an office setting and not in schools, the results are the same. When time and resources are put towards coaching, it signifies the importance of the coaching and therefore the importance of those receiving the teaching experience. When principals recognize the efforts others are making on their behalf and the efforts they themselves are putting in, it creates satisfaction and a sense of empowerment. When assistant superintendents and principals receive this attention and put their focus on bettering themselves, they not only serve those they lead in a greater capacity, but they are able to coach those they lead as well.
In the same way that negativity trickles down, the ability that coaching has to strengthen and the sense of accomplishment and well-being also trickles down. Coaching doesn’t just offer simple guidance and plans. It creates a balance in the workplace by giving individuals the ability to improve themselves. Personal growth has been a proven means of instilling a sense of harmony and satisfaction in a person’s life and the happier employees are, the more successful a school can be. MetrixGlobal, LLC completed a case study to see how coaching affected employees and found that 75% of the respondents stated they felt it impacted them beneficially.
Just as with a team of athletes, coaching will be able to unlock hidden talents and develop those talents into the strength that will improve the school environment. The athletic coach determines the individual strengths of each player and forms plans to utilize those strengths to the benefit of the entire team. It works the same in the workplace. The International Personnel Management Association released a report that showed an increase of 88% of productivity in workers who had both coaching and training while those who just received training only showed an increase of 22%. This proves how much of an impact executive coaching can have on you or your high potential employees.
Those who partake in continuous coaching are better able to reflect on their own performance in a healthy way that cultivates improvement. This allows them to solve the problems they face, and in the school system there are many. When you’re in a position that directly affects children and their ability to learn and grow, the problems that arise are massively important. In the Guide to Coaching School Principals in Minnesota: Incorporating Coaching Strategies into Principal Development and Evaluation, it discusses how there are two mindsets when it comes to facing problems. One is known as the Fixed Mindset and the other is the Growth Mindset. The Fixed mindset operates based on a static education and will avoid problems and issues, giving up easily rather than trying to work on what needs correcting. The Growth Mindset is the opposite, based on a continual learning attitude that makes them more likely to solve the problems they face. Participating in continual coaching fosters the Growth Mindset, and therefore makes it easier to face and tackle problems.
There are several things that make coaching different from simple training or mentoring. Coaching involves a great deal of watching and listening, rather than just instructing. It’s far more focused on helping the one being coached find their own weaknesses and either strengthening those weaknesses or developing ways to work around those weaknesses. It also places a high priority on finding the natural strengths that are already there. Everyone had things they are good at simple because it’s a part of their personality. Coaching finds those skills and teaches them how to use them.
The Guide to Coaching School Principals in Minnesota goes on to show a study on how coaching affects the ability to retain learned skills, concept understanding, and the application of what was learned. They found that coaching was far more effective than other forms of professional development. While other types of development are important and useful, they didn’t instill the same long-lasting results.
With all these proven benefits to coaching, why are there still so many who refuse to take advantage of it? Some of the issues come with the common image of assistant superintendents and principals being the source of ideas and advice. They feel that they can’t seek out avenues for self-betterment without seeming like they don’t know how to do their job. You can’t lead people who don’t believe in your ability to do so, and they worry that participating in coaching will make the staff they supervise question their abilities. Another reason is the lack of time. Many principals have so much on their plate that taking the time away from their regular responsibilities to participate in coaching activities seems impossible. They already are spread too thin and find themselves struggling to complete their normal duties. While this is true, participating in these coaching opportunities will usually give you skills for better time management. Many supervisors will also feel as though they shouldn’t complain about having a difficult situation. They may be worried about how they will be viewed if they begin to state all the stumbling blocks and challenges they face throughout their day. While these concerns are understandable and not without some truth, the benefits far outweigh the negative side of coaching. In fact, these negative points are so inconsequential that they’re more impactful on the supervisor’s own ego than on any real public image.
Utilizing coaching opportunities and making sure that these opportunities are available will go a long way towards improving our schools and creating a stronger environment for learning. Not only will those working in the schools feel far more satisfied, but students will also be able to reach higher levels and make more progress as a result.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/value-coaching-instructional-leaders
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/NASSP_LPI_Principal_Turnover_Research_Review_REPORT.pdf
https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/what-makes-coach-effective
http://gvasuccess.com/articles/ExetutiveBriefing.pdf
https://archive.progressu.com/downloads/e-book_coaching-effectiveness.pdf