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Coach It Further

Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership

First Edition
By: Peter M. DeWitt

Foreword by Coach Ron Mulson

Written for coaches, leaders looking to be coached, and leaders interested in coaching burgeoning leaders, this book provides valuable strategies for building the coach-leader relationship.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781506399492
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2018
Page Count: 224
Publication date: September 18, 2018

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Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

Description

Practical strategies for building coach-leader relationships

Leadership is complex work. High quality leadership coaching is one of the most effective methods of professional development for leaders. Coach It Further uses a narrative format to illustrate the important aspects of leadership that leaders and coaches can work on together to achieve their shared goals. It includes:

Authentic stories from leaders and students
The Collaborative Leadership Growth Cycle, which provides leaders with a starting point and specific steps to take to reach their goals
Strategies for the four priorities research shows school leaders are most concerned about: collective efficacy, communication, student and family engagement, and political climate
Reflection questions for leadership coaches to use with their leader-coaches

Whether you are a seasoned coach, a leader looking to be coached, or a leader looking for guidance on how to coach burgeoning leaders among your staff, this book will build your confidence and provide you with valuable insights and strategies.

Watch Peter's interview with WNYT-NBC as he discusses Coach It Further.

Offers a model of how educators can engage in the art of leadership coaching. School administrators will connect to the realistic, varied, and detailed examples illustrating the complexities of leadership. Here you will find thoughtful insights and practical suggestions for improving the quality of leadership coaching in your practice.

–Jenni Donohoo, Best-selling author and Professional Learning Facilitator

A must-read for school leaders and leadership coaches. You will connect to the real struggles of a principal learning to be coached. This book is chock-full of research, tips, and examples to help you improve your self-efficacy as a leader.

–Jessica Johnson, School Leader

Co-Author of The Coach Approach to School Leadership and Breaking Out of Isolation

Key features

Collaborative Leadership	School Climate	Leadership Coaching
Special Feature: Hattie’s research	Special Feature: Early Warning System	Special Feature: Coaching cycle
6 Influences That Matter Most · Instructional leadership · Assessment capable learners · Feedback · Collective efficacy · Family engagement · Professional development	Essential elements of school climate · Inclusive Curriculum · Images that represent students · School board policies · Student codes of conduct · Understanding minoritized populations · Common language	5 Priorities for Leaders · Community Engagement · Communication · Collective Efficacy · Politics of Distraction · Time management
Focus on collaboration using structures leaders have in place (i.e. faculty meetings, teacher observations, etc.)	Focus on fostering a school climate that increases self-efficacy & collective efficacy	Focus on building the self-efficacy of leaders through leadership coaching
Meet, Model, Motivate	Leadership Growth Cycle · They choose an area of growth	How to implement collaborative leadership through goal setting
Focus on leadership styles · Negotiator · Regulator · Bystander · Collaborator
Who should read? District, building leaders, teacher leaders, instructional coaches	Who should read? District, building leaders, teachers, school psychologists, school counselors	Who should read: Potential leaders. New leaders. Any leader who wants to grow

Author(s)

Peter M. DeWitt

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For the last 10 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books.

DeWitt's professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy.

Additionally, in the Summer of 2021, DeWitt created a year long on-demand, asynchronous coaching course through Thinkific where he has created a community of learners that include k-12 educators in leadership positions.

DeWitt's work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week, which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week's A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, sexual orientation, research, trauma and many other educational topics.

Additionally, DeWitt is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan.

He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State's (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences), and sits on numerous advisory boards.

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books. Click on title to purchase. They include:
Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press. 2012).

Flipping Leadership Doesn't Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin Press. 2014)

Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward).

School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin Press/ Ontario Principals Council. 2017).

Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018).

Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020).

Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin Press. Learning Forward. 2021).

De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works (Corwin Press. 2022).

Leading with Intention - Developing self-awareness to fostering an unreasonable human interconnectedness to impact the school community (co-authored with Michael Nelson. Corwin Press. 2024).

Peter's articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages.

Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Learning Forward, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), University of Oklahoma, Cognition Education (New Zealand), Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), Victoria Department of Education (Australia), University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the National Education Association (NEA), New Brunswick Teacher's Association (Canada), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Education Scotland (Scotland), Glasgow City Council (Scotland), Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait) the National Association of School Psychologists, ASCD, l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO), the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO), and the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), National School Climate Center, GLSEN, PBS, NPR, BAM Radio Network, ABC, and NBC's Education Nation.

Learn more about bringing Peter DeWitt to your school or district at petermdewitt.com

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Why We Need Coaches in Educational Leadership

Stories Matter

Audience for This Book

The Self-Efficacy of Leadership

Leadership Shouldn’t Be a Solitary Pursuit

Coach’s Corner: Virtual Coaching

Special Features

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1: Beginning a Coaching Relationship

What to Do Versus What Not to Do

Coach’s Corner: Strategies for Coaching Assistant Principals

Am I In Over My Head?

Coach’s Corner: Strategies for Addressing Insecurities

Coach’s Corner: Leadership PLCs on Voxer

It’s Time for a Coach

Chapter 2: Gavin “Accepts” Coaching

Coaching Credibility

Introducing Leadership Coach Michelle Hebert

Coach’s Corner: Credibility Matters

Of Course I Want to Be Coached!

Coach’s Corner: The Preengagement Survey

Let Go of Coaching Myths

Coach’s Corner: Sample Questions for Coaches to Ask Leaders

Chapter 3: Fostering a Supportive School Climate

Interact With Students and Staff at the Beginning of Each Day

Emphasize the Positive

Coach’s Corner: Student Focus Groups

Be Transparent About the Coaching

Invite Everyone to Work Toward the Mission

Coach’s Corner: Improving the Culture of the School

Embrace Vulnerability

Believe in Your Own Capability

Coach’s Corner: Self-Efficacy Review

Improve the Climate First, Then the Culture

Coach’s Corner: Fostering an Inclusive School Climate

Coach’s Corner: Coaching and School Climate

Coach’s Corner: Where Do You Want to Start?

Where Should Gavin Start?

Coach’s Corner: Ways to Strengthen a Collaborative Culture

Chapter 4: Gavin Becomes More OPEN to Coaching

What It Means to Be More OPEN to Coaching

Coach’s Corner: Set Ground Rules

Coach’s Corner: Walk-Throughs

Whose Agenda Is This?

Coach’s Corner: Understand Your Coachee’s Needs

Gavin Seeks Advice From a Friend

Chapter 5: Gavin Establishes His Goal

Why Does Collective Efficacy Still Matter?

Coach’s Corner: Understand the Research You Promote

Coach’s Corner: Raise Self-Efficacy

Coach’s Corner: Assess Your Own Style of Coaching

Four Priorities of Leadership

Chapter 6: A Survey That Inspires Collaboration

The Survey That Inspired It All

Coach’s Corner: Collaborative Leadership Team (CLT)

The Morning After

Coach’s Corner: Create a Collaborative Leadership Team (CLT)

Collaborative Leadership Team

Coach’s Corner: Strategies to Overcome the Challenges of Distance

Surface to Deep

Chapter 7: Priority I—Collective Efficacy

How Can Gavin Maximize His Time?

Coach’s Corner: Do What You Love

Coach’s Corner: Beware of Educational Jargon

Coach’s Corner: Strategies to Increase Trust in Schools

Coach’s Corner: Coaching Your Assistant Principals

Chapter 8: Priority II—Communication

Enabling Conditions

Coach’s Corner: Assess Your Communication Practices

Coaching Communication

Coach’s Corner: Establish Communication Frequency

Complications of Communication

Communication With Assistant Principals

Communication With Staff

Coach’s Corner: Communication Mistakes to Avoid

Coach’s Corner: Feedback Triggers to Watch Out For

Coaching Challenging Conversations

Coach’s Corner: Ways to Challenge in Conversations

Chapter 9: Priority III—Student and Community Engagement

Collaborative Leadership Team Explores Family Engagement

Coach’s Corner: Encourage Coachees to Assess Family Focus

The Collaborative Leadership Team Realizes All Doesn’t Mean All

Working With Outside Organizations

Coach’s Corner: Encourage Community Engagement

What Should Community Engagement Look Like?

Michelle’s Community Engagement Coaching Conversation

Chapter 10: Priority IV—The Political Climate

Negative Rhetoric Affects Us Too

Hattie’s Politics of Distraction

Coach’s Corner: Beware of the Politics of Distraction

The Collaborative Leadership Team Gets Distracted

Epilogue: Where Does Gavin Go From Here?

Understanding Priorities

Four Priorities

Afterword

References

Reviews

Dr. Peter DeWitt writes from the perspective of someone who has had an exceptionally varied combination of life experiences; the struggling student, the honors student, the teacher in both urban and rural educational settings, the administrator, the scholar, and the advocate for those in need of support. He is a rare combination of theorist and pragmatist and his insights on leadership and coaching are both thought-provoking and useful. They also may help many educators get closer to that ever-elusive good night’s sleep.

Ron Mulson
Hudson Valley Community College

In this well-timed book, Peter DeWitt uses evidence-based stories to illustrate how educators can engage in the art of leadership coaching. School administrators will make multiple connections to the realistic, varied, and detailed examples DeWitt uses to illustrate the complexities of leadership. If you’re looking to improve the quality of leadership coaching in schools and districts, you’ll find thoughtful insights and practical suggestions contained throughout.

Jenni Donohoo
Best-selling author and Professional Learning Facilitator

Coach It Further is a must-read for school leaders and leadership coaches. This is not your typical professional learning book. I promise you will enjoy reading as you follow the scenario of a principal learning to be coached. You will also make connections with the real struggles of leadership and coaching. This book is chock full of research, tips ,and examples to help you build your self-efficacy as a leader and lead your school to build collective efficacy.

Jessica Johnson
school leader and author

Peter DeWitt has a credible authenticity that strikes a chord of recognition with teachers and principals. In Coach It Further he further develops the critical factor of collective efficacy and shows how a skilled coach can help a principal break a school cultural impasse and move a struggling school forward. This excellent book has a readability quality that will engage all readers.

Neil MacNeill, Head Master Ellenbrook Independent Primary School Western Australia
Neil MacNeill, Head Master Ellenbrook Independent Primary School Western Australia

Other Titles in: Coaching | Leadership | Principal Mentoring, Induction & Coaching

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Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leaders [Podcast]