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Administrative support of the instructional coach is critical to the success of instructional coaches in each building (Hall and Simeral, 2008; Knight, 2011; Sweeney, 2018). Effective instructional coaches support the transfer of new skills into practice to positively impact student learning outcomes (Costa and Garmston, 1994; Desimone and Pak, 2017; Knight and Cornett, 2007; Kraft, Blazar, and Hogan, 2019; Showers and Joyce, 1996). The purpose of this study was to identify instructional coaches' perceptions of principal support and the factors that contribute to those perceptions. The study aimed to address the following research questions: 1) What do instructional coaches perceive as principals' knowledge of the role of the instructional coach? 2) How do instructional coaches perceive the actions of principals in support of their work? This descriptive study examined instructional coaches' perceptions of principal support given to instructional coaches in one large, suburban school division in Virginia. Data were collected through an online survey and optional participation in focus groups. Findings included a misalignment between the instructional coaches' knowledge of the role of an instructional coach and that of the principal. Findings indicated the instructional coaches perceived support from the principal as including a shared knowledge of the role of the instructional coach, including the instructional coach in the vision for the school, maintaining regular communication and meetings, following up with teachers after a professional development led by the coach, providing professional development opportunities for the instructional coach, providing access to instructional resources, providing feedback on the work of the instructional coach, and building a relationship with the instructional coach. Implications outlined in the study identify specific actions principals can take to positively impact the instructional coaching in schools. / Doctor of Education / Instructional coaching is a growing method for building the capacity of teachers in schools. Administrative knowledge of the role of an instructional coach and principal support of the work of the instructional coach is critical to the success of the role of the instructional coach. Actions taken by the principal directly impact the perception of support for the work of the instructional coach and either negatively or positively impact the potential for the instructional coach to build capacity in the school. The work of instructional coaches is often interrupted by task assignments by the principal that engage instructional coaches in activities that detract from the instructional coach's role as instructional support. The purpose of this study was to identify instructional coaches' perceptions of principal support and the factors that contribute to those perceptions. Instructional coaches from one school division in Virginia participated in the study. The study yielded eight findings and eight implications for principal actions that improve the instructional coaches' perception of principal support for the role of the instructional coach. Findings from the study indicated the instructional coaches perceived support from the principal as including a shared knowledge of the role of the instructional coach, including the instructional coach in the vision for the school, maintaining regular communication and meetings, following up with teachers after a professional development led by the coach, providing professional development opportunities for the instructional coach, providing access to instructional resources, providing feedback on the work of the instructional coach, and building a relationship with the instructional coach. Implications outlined in the study identify specific actions principals can take to positively impact the instructional coaching in schools. Future researchers may want to consider completing this study with instructional coaches from various school divisions. Additionally, future researchers may also want to compare instructional coaches' perception of principal support with principals' perception of the actions of support given to the instructional coaches.

Novice teachers need support as they enter their career in education. Supports can be given through various forms including mentoring and instructional coaching. The supports are put into place by school districts to assist with student achievement as well as teacher retention. This case study examines a school districts elementary schools and the supports put into place for novice teachers, with a particular focus on mentoring and instructional coaching. The case study drew from interviews, observations, and document reviews from four different elementary schools and eight individuals, including novice teachers, mentors, and instructional coaches. Coding took place and a thematic analysis took place. Triangulation of all three data points kept this qualitative study reliable and accurate. The three findings include: 1) Perceptions of mentoring and instructional coaching program components, 2) Novice teachers perceptions of mentoring and instructional coaching support, and 3) Mentors and instructional coaches perceptions of their roles in supporting novice teachers. The findings focus on recognizing the perceptions of those involved in induction programs for novice teachers and how those supports provide the necessary needs for new teachers to stay in the field of education. Specifically, perceptions were identified to indicate if one program served a better purpose for what novice teachers want and need to be successful. The purpose of the research was to understand how novice teachers perceive types of support and how the supports effect their retention and performance. The results of the study would assist a school system in terms of where to invest funds to provide the most needed support for novice teachers. / Ed. D.

Instructional coaching and influences on program implementation by elementary principals and instructional coaches: A qualitative case study James F. Swoger Abstract A shared vision between the instructional coach and principal aligned with district policies and programs is essential to the success of instructional coaching. The purpose of this study was to explore the way principals and instructional coaches envision the role of the instructional coach within the school and the influences within the school that impact the implementation of instructional coaching. The two research questions guiding this study were: How do principals and instructional coaches envision the role of the instructional coach? What influences the implementation of instructional coaching in schools? Guided by Creswell and Creswell's (2017) Framework for Research, the principals and instructional coaches from nine schools within one defined cluster of one school district were interviewed for this qualitative, multiple case study. Transcripts were sorted by interview question and position to support the two research questions. There were 10 findings identified. Findings for Research Question 1 include instructional coaches work with the principal to clarify the mission and visions of the school, communication between the principal and coach and the coach and teachers is vital, instructional coaches need high quality professional development, and the instructional coach is tasked to lead other school-based initiatives. Findings for Research Question 2 include that the instructional coach is critical to building capacity, providing individualized coaching, supporting professional learning communities, and building trust. Findings also noted staffing challenges, time, and competing priorities influence the implementation of instructional coaching. These findings led to six implications including that school districts should provide planning support for principals and instructional coaches to work together to clarify the mission and vision of the school, principal preparation programs should provide professional learning on working with instructional coaches, districts should prioritize high quality professional development for instructional coaches to include individualized coaching and trust building, coaches should continue to build capacity of all staff and provide novice teachers coaching cycles, and school divisions should clearly define the role of the instructional coach. These findings and implications may be of interest to district leaders, principals, instructional coaches, and aspiring instructional coaches to better understand instructional coaching and influences on program implementation. / Doctor of Education / Instructional coaching and influences on program implementation by elementary principals and instructional coaches: A qualitative case study James F. Swoger General Audience Abstract A shared vision between the instructional coach and principal aligned with district policies and programs is essential to the success of instructional coaching. The purpose of this study was to explore the way principals and instructional coaches envision the role of the instructional coach within the school and the influences within the school that impact the implementation of instructional coaching. The two research questions guiding this study were: How do principals and instructional coaches envision the role of the instructional coach? What influences the implementation of instructional coaching in schools? Guided by Creswell and Creswell's (2017) Framework for Research, the principals and instructional coaches from nine schools within one defined cluster of one school district were interviewed for this qualitative, multiple case study. Transcripts were sorted by interview question and position to support the two research questions. There were 10 findings identified, findings for Research Question 1 include instructional coaches work with the principal to clarify the mission and visions of the school, communication between the principal and coach and the coach and teachers is vital, instructional coaches need high quality professional development, and the instructional coach is tasked to lead other school-based initiatives. Findings for Research Question 2 include that the instructional coach is critical to building capacity, providing individualized coaching, supporting professional learning communities, and building trust. Findings also noted staffing challenges, time, and competing priorities influence the implementation of instructional coaching. These findings led to six implications including that school districts should provide planning support for principals and instructional coaches to work together to clarify the mission and vision of the school, principal preparation programs should provide professional learning on working with instructional coaches, districts should prioritize high quality professional development for instructional coaches to include individualized coaching and trust building, coaches should continue to build capacity of all staff and provide novice teachers coaching cycles, and school divisions should clearly define the role of the instructional coach. These findings and implications may be of interest to district leaders, principals, instructional coaches, and aspiring instructional coaches to better understand instructional coaching and influences on program implementation.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the literacy coach's tasks and qualities teachers valued the most and which qualities they valued the least. Knowing those precepts might help one to become a more efficient and valuable resource for both classroom teachers and principals. School visits, focus group interviews, individual interviews, interviews with each principal, and documents from the 3 southwest Virginia schools in 2 districts provided the data for analysis. Teachers' and principals' perspectives of literacy coaching explained both the desirable and undesirable practices and techniques. The 3 schools had been swept into a change process when they received Virginia Reading First funding. They were required to use only scientifically based reading researched programs and strategies. Teachers were required to use new programs, change their instructional practices, use data to drive instruction, restructure their schedules, and rearrange their classrooms. They were required to participate in more staff development and training opportunities. They learned to look at student data and use them to drive their instruction to meet the specific needs of certain students. They learned to use data to assess their own professional strengths and weaknesses and then take action to improve it. The need for change and an effective change agent emerged as teachers needed to match their skills to the increased demands. Research data inspired the recommendations for becoming an effective literacy coach.

Bakgrund och syfte Istället för att bedöma och värdera en coach utifrån dålig eller bra kan en coach ses utifrån ett kontinuum där nybörjare är den ena ytterligheten och expert den andra ytterligheten. Tidigare forskning om expert-coacher har två inriktningar, utveckling av expertis inom coaching och expert-coachens kännetecken och förmågor. Kännetecken och förmågor hos en expert-coach kan ses som nyckelbegrepp i denna studie. Underliggande begrepp inom expert-coachens kännetecken är karaktärsdrag, beteende och coach/ledarstil. Underliggande begrepp inom expert-coachens förmågor är kunskap och psykologiska färdigheter. Syftet är att utforska hur svenska coacher och idrottare ser på kännetecken och förmågor hos expert-coacher samt i vilken svensk idrottskontext en expert-coach jobbar. Metod Studien är kvalitativ och en tvärsnittsstudie där semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Deltagare i studien var sex förbundskaptener (3 män och 3 kvinnor mellan 45-53 år) och sex landslagsidrottare (5 män och 1 kvinna mellan 25-32 år). Intervjuerna har transkriberats, tematisk analys och innehållsanalys har använts för att tolka och analysera insamlad data. Resultat Det som utmärker en expert-coachen inom nyckelbegreppet kännetecken är expert-coachens beteende i form av att kommunicera, att stötta individen och att fokusera på individen. Inom nyckelbegreppet förmågor hos en expert-coach kan det underliggande begreppet kunskap delas in i professionell kunskap, interpersonell kunskap och intra personell kunskap. Både coacher och idrottare anser att en expert-coach behöver alla dessa kunskaper. Det finns ingen utmärkande psykologisk färdighet som är utmärkande, men emotionell intelligens anses som viktigt för en expert-coach. Slutsats Utforskandet av expert-coachens kännetecken och förmågor utifrån nyckelbegreppen i tidigare forskningen har tillsammans med de viktigaste resultaten i denna studie resulterat i en modell över begreppet expert-coach. De kännetecken och förmågor som anses viktigast hos en expert-coach är kommunikation och att se individen. En expert-coach kan verka inom en kontext av såväl elit som ungdomar och utveckling. Denna studie visar att expert-coach är ett komplext begrepp som kräver fördjupad forskning. / Introduction and aim Instead of assessing and evaluating a coach from bad to good, a coach can be approached from a continuum where beginners are one extreme and experts are the other. Previous research on expert coaches has two approaches, the development of expertise in coaching and the professional coach’s characteristics and abilities. Characteristics and abilities of an expert coach can be seen as key concept in this study. Underlying concepts in expert coach characteristics is trait, behavior and coaching/leadership style. Underlying concepts in the expert coach's abilities is knowledge and psychological skills. The aim of this study is to explore how Swedish coaches and athletes look at characteristics and abilities of expert-coaches as well as in which Swedish sports context an expert-coach working. Method The study is qualitative in design, as well as a cross-sectional study in which semi-structured interviews were used as data collection methods. Participants in the study were six national team coaches (3 man och 3 women between 45-53 years) and six national team athletes (5 man och 1 woman between 25-32 years). The interviews were transcribed, thematic analysis and content analysis was used to interpret and analyze the collected data. Results Regarding coaches characteristics, the study found that communication skill, as well as the coaches’ ability to support and focus on the individual athlete, distinguished the expert coaches from others. Result also show that when it comes to the expert coaches abilities, the underlying concept of knowledge is divided into professional knowledge, interpersonal skills and knowledge of self. Both coaches and athletes agree that an expert coach requires all of these skills. There are no psychological skills that are distinctive, but emotional intelligence is considered as important for an expert coach. Conclusions Exploration of the expert coach's characteristics and abilities based on key concepts in previous research, together with the most important findings in this study resulted in a model of the concept of expert coach. The characteristics and abilities that are considered most important in an expert coach are communication skills and the ability to see the individual. Both coaches and athletes believe that an expert coach can operate within a context of both elite and youth development. This study shows that expert coach is a complex concept that requires in-depth research.

Sėkmingas komandos valdymas dažnai priklauso nuo tam tikro valdymo mechanizmo taikymo komandoje, t.y. priimamų sprendimų, daromo poveikio ir kontrolės vyksmo. Valdymo funkcijos, vadovavimo stiliai, tarpusavio santykių ir konfliktų valdymas yra esminiai vadybinės trenerio kompetencijos aspektai, lemiantys sėkmingą komandos veiklą. Trenerio veikla turėtų būti grindžiama vienokiu arba kitokiu vadybinių kompetencijų pasireiškimo lygiu ir jų tinkamu valdymu. / Successful team management often depends on using particular management mechanism in a team, i.e. decision-making, impact and control processes. Management functions, leadership styles, the relationship and conflict management are the key aspects of the managerial competence of the every coach, leading the team to successful performance. Coach work should be grounded on some managerial competencies display level and its management.

Professionalism in sport and the standard of world-class performance is on the rise. The development of a country's sporting potential therefore is crucial (Martindale et al., 2007:187). In South African schools, sport is widely regarded as the basis of elite sport (Rajput & Van Deventer, 2010:159). Teacher-coaches are in most cases responsible for the development potential of this sport. These coaches are often not properly trained, while the most knowledgeable coaches are used at elite level (SASKOK 2011b:12). The aim of this study was to determine the current state of teacher-coaches’ sport-specific training and playing- and coaching experience regarding sport coaching. Fifty four (54) schools om the Kenneth Kaunda district in the North-West Province of South Africa were available for this study. Questionnaires by Vosloo (2007) and Camire (2012) were adapted for use in this study. One hundred and forty-four (144) questionnaires were used in the compilation of the results. The Epi-info program was used to capture the data. For analysing the data, frequency tables and cross-tabulations were used to obtain statistical (p≤0.05) and practical (Cramer’s V-value) significance. Only six (6) of the twelve (12) priority sports codes have a significant amount of sport-specific trained teacher-coaches. Most sport-specific training was completed more than five (5) years ago. In most sports codes the majority of teacher-coaches have less than 10 years’ combined coaching- and participation experience. The transfer of quality coaching knowledge between coaches is questionable. It is mostly teacher-coaches with less than 10 years’ experience that do not attempt to improve their coaching skills. Teacher-coaches in general also use few methods to improve their coaching skills. Sport-specific training is needed in all types of schools (especially township- and farm schools) and in all priority sports codes. These teacher-coaches also require quality coaching mentors as well as exceptional and current sport-specific information. / TheThesis (MSc (Sport Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Professionalism in sport and the standard of world-class performance is on the rise. The development of a country's sporting potential therefore is crucial (Martindale et al., 2007:187). In South African schools, sport is widely regarded as the basis of elite sport (Rajput & Van Deventer, 2010:159). Teacher-coaches are in most cases responsible for the development potential of this sport. These coaches are often not properly trained, while the most knowledgeable coaches are used at elite level (SASKOK 2011b:12). The aim of this study was to determine the current state of teacher-coaches’ sport-specific training and playing- and coaching experience regarding sport coaching. Fifty four (54) schools om the Kenneth Kaunda district in the North-West Province of South Africa were available for this study. Questionnaires by Vosloo (2007) and Camire (2012) were adapted for use in this study. One hundred and forty-four (144) questionnaires were used in the compilation of the results. The Epi-info program was used to capture the data. For analysing the data, frequency tables and cross-tabulations were used to obtain statistical (p≤0.05) and practical (Cramer’s V-value) significance. Only six (6) of the twelve (12) priority sports codes have a significant amount of sport-specific trained teacher-coaches. Most sport-specific training was completed more than five (5) years ago. In most sports codes the majority of teacher-coaches have less than 10 years’ combined coaching- and participation experience. The transfer of quality coaching knowledge between coaches is questionable. It is mostly teacher-coaches with less than 10 years’ experience that do not attempt to improve their coaching skills. Teacher-coaches in general also use few methods to improve their coaching skills. Sport-specific training is needed in all types of schools (especially township- and farm schools) and in all priority sports codes. These teacher-coaches also require quality coaching mentors as well as exceptional and current sport-specific information. / TheThesis (MSc (Sport Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.