EduLead's Leadership Coaching Project is featured in an article titled “Coaches Support School Leaders” in the Winter 2010 edition of The Bridge, alumni magazine of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education. Quoted extensively in the article is EduLead Project Administrator Dr. Kate M. Cassada.

Coaches Support School Leaders

Full text © 2010 School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University

It can be lonely at the top, especially for new school principals who are mastering the myriad challenges of their new positions.

EduLead, a partnership between the VCU School of Education Center for School Improvement and the University of Richmond Center for Leadership in Education, seeks to enhance skills and knowledge of aspiring, new and established educational leadership in the greater Richmond area through a variety of ways, one of which is leadership coaching. EduLead has trained, experienced principals to serve as leadership coaches for novice and early-career principals.

The leadership coaches are providing new principals with ongoing support to facilitate effective decision-making, promote goal-setting and attainment, and increase their confidence.

Coaching also has benefited principals who had leadership experience but were new to the community or were serving schools that faced a variety of educational challenges and obstacles to student achievement.

“Early-career principals can benefit greatly from professional development that focuses on them and their new roles. Leadership coaching can be a critical piece in the successful induction of new school leaders,” said Kate m. Cassada, Ed.D., of the Center for School Improvement.

The center has a cadre of 23 EduLead coaches. These recently retired, highly successful school principals have received substantial training through the New Teacher Center of Santa Cruz, Calif., to become coaches. The coaches represent a wealth of educational leadership experiences, skills, knowledge and wisdom.

Participation is funded by the school divisions and corporate sponsors, including Altria Group, Capital One, Genworth Financial and the Robins Foundation.

This year, 18 coaching relationships are under way in the city of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico. Last year, 22 principals worked with EduLead coaches. At the end of their one-year coaching relationships, principals gave the program high marks.

“My coach has been a valuable resource in helping me adjust to a new school division,” said one principal.

“Having a coach has enabled me to gain confidence as a new principal,” said another.

The EduLead Leadership Coaching Project also helps accelerate new principals’ transition skills so they succeed more quickly. Coaches can help principals perform at their peak as they balance the many demands of school leadership and maintain the focus on student success.

“Recent studies show us the importance of leadership in schools,” Dr. Cassada said. “Research notes that of school-related factors, leadership is second only to teaching in terms of student achievement. EduLead and its partner school divisions recognize that leadership coaching is a wise investment in young talent. We anticipate that these coaching relationships will benefit principals and their schools not only throughout this school year, but throughout their educational leadership careers.”