Perceptions of Roles and Responsibilities of Instructional Coaches in One Midwestern School District

Abstract

Instructional coach programs are being implemented in districts to aid in the increase of student achievement through providing job-embedded professional development. Yet, there is limited research on the perception of instructional coaches’ roles and responsibilities from the principals, instructional coaches, and teachers. The purpose of this study is to add to the research by examining the perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of instructional coaches. This is achieved by investigating four questions, “How do principals, instructional coaches, and teachers perceive responsibilities as defined in the written job description?” “How do principals, instructional coaches, and teachers perceive instructional coaches’ roles?”, “How do principals, instructional coaches, and teachers perceived roles and responsibilities align with how instructional coaches spend their time?”; and “How do principals, instructional coaches, and teachers perceive the value of instructional coaches?” The data used for this study came from a midwestern school district. Principals, instructional coaches, and teachers from five elementary schools were surveyed and interviewed. The survey was based on the district’s instructional coach job description and the amount of time instructional coaches engaged in the duties. The interview questions asked about the roles and responsibilities of the instructional coaches and the value they provide. In addition, district documents related to instructional coaches, including logged time, was collected and reviewed. Considering the surveys, interviews, and documentation made it possible to identify commonalities and variations in the perceptions of principals, instructional coaches and teachers. Findings suggest commitment to change and implementing multiple initiatives were a challenge, the role of instructional coaches was unclear or ambiguous, and instructional coaches primarily impacted students indirectly by being a resource to teachers.