The Coach Approach to School Leadership: Leading Teachers to Higher Levels of Effectiveness

In The Coach Approach to School Leadership, Jessica Johnson, Shira Leibowitz, and Kathy Perret address a dilemma faced by many principals: how to function as learning leaders while fulfilling their evaluative and management duties. The answer? Incorporating instructional coaching techniques as an integral part of serious school improvement.

The authors explain how principals can

• Master the skill of "switching hats" between the nonjudgmental coach role and the evaluative supervisor role.
• Expand their classroom visits and combine coaching with evaluation requirements.
• Nurture relationships with teachers and build a positive school culture.
• Provide high-quality feedback to support the development of both teachers and students.
• Empower teachers to lead their own professional learning and work together as a team.

Drawing from the authors' work with schools as well as their conversations with educators across the globe, this thought-provoking book speaks to the unique needs of principals as instructional leaders, providing solutions to challenges in every aspect of this complex endeavor.

The role of the principal is changing at a rapid pace. Let this resource guide you in improving your own practice while helping teachers master the high-quality instruction that leads to student success.

Jessica Johnson is the elementary school principal and district assessment coordinator for Dodgeland School District in Juneau, Wisconsin, and an adjunct professor in the Educational Leadership Department at Viterbo University. Named the 2014 Wisconsin Elementary School Principal of the Year, she has previously taught in Minnesota and served as an instructional coach and assistant principal in Arizona. She is the coauthor of Breaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader (Corwin, 2015)

Dr. Shira Leibowitz is founding lower school director of Portfolio, designed as a network of schools reimagining the possible in education through student-centered interdisciplinary project-based learning. Prior to joining Portfolio, Shira led independent schools in the greater New York City area for 20 years, serving as department head and curriculum coordinator, lower school principal, and head of school. She has coached teachers throughout the United States in implementing project-based learning and has led online communities of practice focused on educational innovation, teaching and learning, and instructional coaching.

Kathy Perret is an educational consultant for Northwest Area Education Agency in Sioux City, Iowa, focusing on the areas of teacher leadership, literacy, and English as a second language, and an adjunct professor at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. She has been an instructional coach at the elementary and middle school levels and currently serves as an educational enhancer for her private consulting business, Kathy Perret Consulting. Prior to her consulting and coaching work, Kathy spent 18 years as an elementary teacher in Iowa.