10 commandments for instructional coaches

In education, the collaborative efforts between building administrators and instructional coaches support teacher growth and enhance student learning outcomes. Despite sharing a common goal of improving educator effectiveness and student achievement, the roles of building administrators and instructional coaches differ significantly.

Drawing a parallel to sports, where games like football and basketball share the objective of winning but differ vastly in rules, equipment and strategies, instructional coaching and administrative leadership exhibit similar disparities despite their shared goal of educational improvement. 

Yet, people often overlook the depth of these differences, leading to misconceptions and blurred lines between the roles of instructional coaches and administrators.

Framed as guiding principles, this article lays out ten essential coaching “commandments” that honor relational influence, teacher autonomy, and collaborative leadership...

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