The purpose of this study was to explore how instructional coaches used research-based strategies to personalize their support for teachers. It also examined the larger implementation factors that helped or hindered their facilitation of such professional learning in a single district context. This included the adaptation of instructional coaching…

The Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona, uses the Standards for Professional Learning to shape and guide their planning and professional learning design, and embeds them in meetings and learning opportunities for district-level directors, specialists, and coaches to ensure they integrate them throughout their work across the…

This paper highlights findings from two aspects of a case study on the partnership between one mid-size California public school district and a private university sponsored literacy project to cultivate teacher efficacy and reignite early student literacy during and after COVID-19 contexts. Grounded in teacher efficacy in literacy instruction and…

This study examines how a large metropolitan district presented the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to its teachers, how secondary literacy teachers took up those messages, and the conceptions of equity that were represented at the district and teacher levels. This study draws on sensemaking theory and conceptions of equity in conjunction with…

Effective school leaders focus on identifying the changes needed to improve student learning. However, school improvement is often reduced to a checklist of compliance activities, and, consequently, achievement gaps continue to stay the status quo, or even widen. This paper reports on a qualitative case study analyzing how professional learning…

Bogotch (2002) proposed that educational leadership cannot be separated from social justice, and this is a sentiment that is taken to heart at an urban Title-1 school district in Houston, Texas. To intentionally address the need for such alignment between mission and practice, the district implemented a recruitment and talent development…

A principal's job is complex, demanding, and multi-faceted. Effective principals shape a school's academic vision and foster a climate for learning. In addition, they develop leadership capacity in teachers and staff, promote sound instructional practices, and use resources and data to drive school improvement (Mendels, 2012). Given these…

This research study explored perceived influence of an instructional coaching program on teacher self-efficacy based on voluntary participation in comparison to mandated participation. At the time of this study, the literature on instructional coaching incorporated studies that tie instructional coaching to increases in teacher self-efficacy;…

Many districts are using content-focused coaching as a strategy to provide job-embedded support to teachers. However, the current coaching literature provides little guidance on what coaches need to know and be able to do to engage teachers in activities that will support their development of ambitious instructional practices. Furthermore, little…

I argue that instructional coaches face inherent systemic conflicts when supporting standards-based reform. I interpret the politics of coaching as the local intermediation of broader debates about teacher accountability and teacher professionalism. Drawing on qualitative case study analysis, I examine the effects of macro-level ideological shifts…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of instructional leaders in promoting culturally responsive practice in ways that make schooling more inclusive and humanizing for minoritized students and communities. Design/methodology/approach: The data pull from a six-month long case study of a mid-sized, Midwestern school district…

This case study describes a partnership between New Leaders and the Arlington Independent School District to develop a pipeline of well-prepared school leaders. Powered by a perfect alignment between district priorities and New Leaders' expertise, Emerging Leaders delivered immediate benefits for Arlington students: At the end of the first year,…

The principal has historically been portrayed in television and film as decidedly unheroic. In the public mind, principals were often thought of as mere school-building managers, individuals who were more interested in wielding power and enforcing compliance than in the loftier concerns of teaching and learning. Today, however, those stale notions…

Purpose: New teacher evaluation systems have expanded the role of principals as instructional leaders, but little is known about principals' ability to promote teacher development through the evaluation process. We conducted a case study of principals' perspectives on evaluation and their experiences implementing observation and feedback cycles to…

In an urban district, Surfside School personnel were concerned that student literacy proficiency levels were low during 2011-2014 and teachers had not been able to close the achievement gap despite a focus on literacy practices and literacy professional development (PD) provided by the district. The purpose of this case study was to explore the…