Engaging in instructional coaching to prepare educators for leadership is the change agent needed within a school to improve teaching and learning. This study focuses on one of the informal roles of educational leadership: instructional coaching. There is an insufficiency of research focusing on instructional coaching; therefore, this study will contribute to a developing body of literature. The central research question of this study was: How do school principals clearly define the role of an instructional coach, and what professional development opportunities for instructional coaching do principals find to be transferable? The researcher utilized a qualitative study approach to identify the role that instructional coaching contributes to the principalship. Principals, educational leaders, and instructional coaches were surveyed to allow the researcher to understand their points of view. The researcher identified several themes across the educational leaders' participants. The majority of the participants agreed that instructional coaches have the responsibility to evaluate teachers. The participants replied that they are dissatisfied with funding for instructional coaching development programs that lead to principalship. However, participants agreed that professional development opportunities are offered to principals to define their role in developing and implementing preparation for principalship. The findings from this study attribute to what the literature states about roles, preparation, and transferable skills. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]