Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures Preface About the Authors Part I: An Introduction to School Leadership Coaching 1. What Is Coaching? 2. Meeting the Challenges of the Principalship 3. Foundational Coaching Skills: Building Relationships 4. Foundational Coaching Skills: Listening, Observing, and Questioning 5. Providing Feedback Part II: Blended Coaching Strategies 6. Introducing Blended Coaching Strategies 7. Facilitative Coaching 8. Instructional Coaching 9. Collaborative Coaching 10. Consultative Coaching 11. Transformational Coaching Part III: Bringing It All Together 12. Coaching for Systems Change 13. Structural Components of a Quality Leadership Coaching Program Conclusion Resource A: Materials for Coach Professional Development Resource B: Establishing the Coaching Relationship Resource C: Formative Assessment Tools References Index

About the Author

Gary Bloom is associate director of the New Teacher Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Bloom has 23 years of K-12 education experience, having served as a bilingual teacher, principal, director of curriculum, and assistant superintendent. He served as the superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District, known for its innovative programs such as graduation exhibitions, a teacher-led high school, and teacher peer review. Bloom is a Kellogg National Fellow, adjunct faculty to San Jose State University's educational administration graduate program, and has consulted, trained, and presented on a variety of topics throughout the United States and in Latin America. He is the primary author of a number of professional development programs for leadership coaches and school principals. He has published articles in a variety of journals, most recently on the topics of teacher leadership, principal development, professional learning communities, new teacher support, and the appropriate use of technology. He is the lead author of Blended Coaching. Claire Castagna is a program director and outreach consultant for the New Teacher Center's administrator induction program, Coaching School Leaders to Attain Student Success. She has 28 years experience in education as a bilingual teacher, bilingual program coordinator, assistant principal and principal. Throughout her career, Claire has focused on implementing programs that ensure that second language learners achieve excellence. She has presented her work in second language literacy at TESOL and CABE conferences. As a principal, Claire led her school to a California Distinguished School Award and became a mentor principal for the Santa Cruz County Baldrige in Education Consortium. Since 2001, Claire has coached beginning principals as they learn to balance the daily demands of the principalship with their role as instructional leader and change agent. She has collaborated in the development of CLASS as a model of support for beginning principals and leads the development of the Improving Student Achievement series of workshops for site administrators on standards based supervision. Ellen Moir is founder and executive director of the New Teacher Center, which is committed to the development of an inspired, dedicated, and highly qualified teaching force by supporting new teachers as they enter the profession. For more than 20 years, she has pioneered innovative approaches to new teacher development, research on new teacher practice, and the design and administration of teacher induction programs. Moir continues to work with the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project and is an advocate for new teachers across the country. Moir has received national recognition for her work, including the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. 2005 Prize in Education and the 2003 Distinguished Teacher Educator Award from the California Council on Teacher Education. Moir is the author of several articles and book chapters and has produced video series related to new teacher development. Her work has been supported by over 20 private foundations and donors, the National Science Foundation, and several state and federal agencies. Betsy Warren has worked in the field of education for thirty years. As a classroom teacher she taught grades 6-12 in four states. She was a teacher leader active in both local and state levels of teacher association activities. After completing her Masters degree in School Administration, she worked as district coordinator of curriculum and staff development. She went on to become a site level administrator where, she confesses, she learned more about herself, schools, and systems than she ever imagined possible. Betsy currently serves as outreach coordinator for the New Teacher Center working with the CLASS Team's New Administrator Project. She also presents professional development seminars for new and veteran administrators. Betsy is a recipient of the Women Leaders in Education Leadership Award and a recent nominee for the Excellence in Education Award sponsored by the Office of the Mayor of San Jose.

Reviews

"This is one of the best, most concise books I know on this topic, and should be equally helpful to elementary, middle, and high school principals. I learned many new ideas that will make me a better coach." -- Paul G. Young, NAESP President, 2002-2003
"Finally there's a book on the market with all the key ingredients for a beginning principal coaching program wrapped into a single recipe for success. Blended Coaching is a research-based, practical and chock full of user-friendly protocols. Recognizing that novice principals face a common set of obstacles and pressures, the authors provide a structured approach to enhance their on-the-job learning and effectiveness. My own school district has been using the winning CLASS formula since 2002 to support 15 first and second-year principals. CLASS has definitely made a difference in the professional lives of Capistrano's newcomers who have been fortunate enough to work with a trained coach. This book now makes it possible for any school district to put these resources to immediate use and start their own new principal coaching program."
-- Suzette Lovely, Associate Superintendent, Personnel Services

"One of the few books on education in the last decade that has the touch of genius. Blended Coaching gives principals the inspiration they need to shift from administrator to school leader, from cop to coach, from boss to mentor. It provides proven strategies, skills that can be practically and immediately applied to positively impact every teacher and student in America."

-- Robert Hargrove
"This book provides field-tested, nuanced guidance for all who are concerned with supporting principals' professional learning, including mentors, coaches, professional developers, faculty members in educational leadership, and school district leaders. The combination of varied strategies and real-world examples of how coaching supports and develops educational leaders across a broad spectrum of experience and expertise provides an invaluable resource for the field of educational leadership." -- Michael Copland
"Bloom, Castagna, Moir, and Warren have achieved new heights in our profession by building upon the best knowledge in coaching and systems change and constructing blended leadership coaching founded on substantive research in cognition, linguistics, emotional intelligence, and cultural competency. Blended Coaching gives expression to a coaching conceptual framework erected with skills, tools and vibrant examples." -- Linda Lambert, Professor Emeritus

"At last we have a comprehensive book that teaches us about the practice of coaching and the principalship! There are skills, strategies, tools, and stories of practicing leaders that can help a prospective leader grow and learn in this engagingly written book. This is clearly a must read for principals-new and experienced and those who coach them."

-- Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar