Introduction
We are halfway into our school year, and our professional growth, support, and evaluation system is well underway. Every year in schools I have worked in and supported, I have found the same points of tension with this process.
We all know that coaching and evaluation should be decoupled; most research indicates that when the same individuals serve as both coaches and evaluators for teachers, the entire integrity of the program is undermined (see the report “Best Practices in Instructional Coaching” produced by Hanover Research in 2014 which gives an overview).
Well-known and highly respected instructional coaches such as Elena Aguilar and Jim Knight both identify that having folks dedicated to coaching is the best model and that coaches should not be in an evaluative position to be effective. However, many schools do not have the luxury of having instructional coaches or leaders in positions to take on only one of those two crucial roles.
As a pedagogical leader in my school and a division head, I want to help teachers set their goals and support them in achieving them. Yet I also have an important responsibility regarding teacher evaluation, which is central to ensuring we do what is best for our students and school. As someone who strives for transformational leadership, I want to ensure that something such as evaluation and coaching does not become transactional. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that focuses on inspiring and motivating others to achieve a shared vision and develop their full potential. In this blog, we’ll explore how to approach coaching, evaluation, and teacher support in a way that aligns with the values of transformational leadership. Balancing these roles can be challenging, but I’ll share some of my most effective school leadership practices to help you navigate this tricky balance successfully.
Inspiring a Shared Vision
In The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by Kouzes and Posner (2017), the authors identify five key practices of effective leaders to enact change. One of which is inspiring a shared vision.
The strongest school leaders are those who not only manage the daily logistics and operations of running a school, but lead with a vision of where the school is headed in the future.
It is not enough to say that the vision is solid teaching and learning; we must define what that means for our students, school, teachers, and context. For example, perhaps our student demographics have changed over recent years, and we are now seeing more students with ADHD. How does our teaching need to shift to address these students? This is exactly where coaching and evaluation come in. Leaders need to:
Create and communicate a shared vision
Coach teachers in their practice to bring the vision to life in classrooms
Evaluate growth, success, and engagement with the vision
Being both coach and evaluator gives us a unique opportunity to have a hand in every step of the process. From a visionary and transformational perspective, wow! How exciting! From a logistical perspective, things can get a bit trickier.
To help, we have created the graphic below to guide you as a leader in balancing the dual roles of coaching and evaluating the vision with teachers. It includes key reflective questions such as "How do we give teachers feedback?" and "How can we clearly define the expectations for implementing the vision?" These questions help align your actions with your vision, ensuring your coaching supports teachers and measure growth effectively.
Toeing the line between evaluator and coach
Toeing this line of evaluator and coach needs to be handled delicately and also with a great deal of clarity for teachers. Here are a few pointers to help you manage this complex balancing act.
Essential Practices for Balancing Coaching and Evaluation
Practice | Description | How to Implement | Why This Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
Hone your tool | Have a professional growth and evaluation system that explicitly states the steps and processes for teachers. | Ensure teachers know the purpose of each meeting (growth or evaluation). Consider a system where teachers engage in a growth cycle for several years before transitioning into an evaluative cycle. Provide clear steps and evidence sources for evaluation so teachers feel assessed fairly based on current criteria, not past growth efforts. | Clear expectations and transparent communication foster trust. Teachers feel supported rather than judged, which enhances their willingness to engage fully in the growth and evaluation processes. |
Wear your hats out loud | Explicitly identify which role (coach or evaluator) you are assuming in conversations with teachers. | Use clear language to specify your role in each interaction. For example: “Wearing my coaching hat, I wonder…” or “As I guide you through the evaluation process this year, I’d like you to consider…” This helps teachers understand the context and purpose of the conversation. | Clarifying your role builds trust and reduces confusion. Teachers are more likely to be open and receptive when they understand the nature of the feedback or guidance they are receiving. |
Build trust | Establish trust by consistently acting with integrity and showing genuine care for your faculty. | Follow through on commitments, maintain confidentiality, show personal interest in your faculty, be dependable, and support teachers in challenges with students and parents. For additional strategies, reference resources like Stephen Covey’s The Speed of Trust. | Trust is the foundation of effective leadership. When teachers trust you, they are more open to feedback and collaboration, making both coaching and evaluation more effective and meaningful. |
Emphasize growth and encourage failure | Encourage teachers to take risks and view failure as a natural part of the learning and growth process. | Coach teachers to experiment with new strategies. Create Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for shared experimentation, have teachers run workshops for peers, model risk-taking by trying new leadership methods, and invite teachers to try new strategies aligned with the vision and share their experiences. | Fostering a culture that values growth over perfection reduces the fear of failure. Teachers become more innovative and more likely to embrace new methods like PBL to enhance student learning. |
Celebrate the overlap | Recognize the advantage of being both a coach and evaluator, providing evaluations based on a comprehensive understanding of each teacher. | Spend informal time with teachers, walk the halls, visit classrooms, and encourage teachers to invite you to special lessons or events. Being present helps you build relationships and gain deeper insights into their teaching practices. | Evaluations become more accurate and personalized, which teachers appreciate. This approach builds confidence in the evaluation process and reinforces the support provided through coaching. |
Invite feedback | Model openness by accepting feedback yourself and being receptive to coaching and evaluation. | If you still teach, invite colleagues to observe your class and engage in debrief conversations. Set a leadership goal for the year, share it publicly with teachers, invite feedback throughout the year, and reflect on your progress at the end. Have a plan for your own leadership evaluation to demonstrate vulnerability. | Modeling vulnerability and a willingness to grow encourages a culture of continuous improvement. Teachers are more likely to engage in their own growth when they see leaders doing the same. |
The imperfect balance
Holding multiple roles that sometimes contradict one another is never easy, but it can be the reality in many schools. We can still be transformational leaders even when logistical constraints don’t allow for “best practice” in professional development.
Being a transformational leader means encouraging innovation, creativity, and big-picture thinking, which is exactly what is required when we need to think creatively about managing multiple responsibilities.
Transformational leaders model risk-taking and growth and foster a culture of trust to do so; this is the work of coaching. Transformational leaders also use effective and clear communication and model vulnerability; this is the work of evaluating. It’s complex and challenging to balance both, but with the right approach, it can be a successful model that results in better teaching and learning.
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