View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of North Carolina at Greensboro PERCEPTIONS AND ENACTMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING IN NORTH CAROLINA A Dissertation by CAROLINE SCOTT ARMSTRONG BEAM Submitted to the Graduate School Appalachian State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December 2014 Educational Leadership Doctoral Program Reich College of Education PERCEPTIONS AND ENACTMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING IN NORTH CAROLINA A Dissertation by CAROLINE SCOTT ARMSTRONG BEAM December 2014 APPROVED BY: ___________________________________________________________ Tracy W. Smith, Ph.D. Chairperson, Dissertation Committee ___________________________________________________________ Carla K. Meyer, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee ___________________________________________________________ William M. Gummerson, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee ___________________________________________________________ Vachel W. Miller, Ed.D. Director, Educational Leadership Doctoral Program ___________________________________________________________ Max C. Poole, Ph.D. Dean, Cratis Williams Graduate School Copyright by Caroline Scott Armstrong Beam 2014 All Rights Reserved Abstract PERCEPTIONS AND ENACTMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING IN NORTH CAROLINA Caroline Scott Armstrong Beam B.S., Appalachian State University M.S.A., Appalachian State University Chairperson: Tracy W. Smith, Ph.D. The instructional coaching role has become a source of support for teacher professional development in districts across the United States, yet there is little agreement among researchers regarding the particular structure of this role. I conducted this portraiture study in three districts in North Carolina and used interviews, observations, and document review to determine how coaches, teachers, and principals understand the role of the instructional coach. The research questions used to guide this study were (a) how do instructional coaches understand their roles, (b) how do other education professionals understand the instructional coaching role, and (c) how does context impact understanding of the instructional coaching role. The portraiture methodology intentionally shifts from pathology to focus on “what is good here” (Lawerence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 9). I used the goodness criterion to recruit coaches identified as good by others in the educational community. I analyzed data first through open coding and then for repetitive refrains (Lawerence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 193) to create descriptive portraits of individual coaches. Finally, I created one, synthesized portrait of instructional coaching. Major findings from the study suggest that contextual factors iv influence role enactment for an instructional coach. Results of the study imply that principals should bring clarity to the purpose of the instructional coach within a school setting. For a coach to feel successful, the coach needs a role description that is both focused and flexible. Results stop short of articulating a coaching role description; therefore, more research is needed to support how to describe the role in order to achieve both focus and flexibility. v Acknowledgments To my Lord: for giving me the opportunity to make this journey and for the strength and perseverance to find learning through it all. To my husband: for saying (possibly on a whim) “maybe you should just go get your doctorate while you’re at it.” To Mama and Daddy: for praying for me, for encouraging me, and for being proud of every step I have taken during this journey. To my family: for being patient with me when I did not join you for Sunday lunch, birthday parties, and family gatherings so I could go home and work. To Dr. Vachel Miller and Dr. Kelly Clark-Keefe: for whoever suggested I should work with Dr. Smith. Your sense that we would make a good mentor/mentee partnership was perfect. To Dr. Smith: for giving me feedback that tightened my writing and forced me to think about word choice, for encouraging me when I thought I might never make it to the end of this process, for providing ideas when I felt depleted, for attending to the product and the process with the utmost precision and care, and for becoming a friend through all of this. To Dr. Gummerson: for providing feedback that helped improve my use of APA style and for helping me think about the school and district administrator audience. To Dr. Meyer: for helping me appreciate the process that lead to this product and for suggesting I use Web of Science as a search tool. vi To Dr. Miller: for exemplifying what it means to lead with an ethic of care and for helping me feel like a valued member of the Appalachian community. To Susan Musilli: for answering all of my questions and responding to all of my emails so that the logistics were always managed professionally. To Cinda Payne: for providing feedback on this product in the final hours; despite having never met me, you invested your time and expertise. To my participants: for allowing me into your coaching worlds and school communities and for letting me learn with you. vii Dedication To my husband who saw this degree and this possibility for me when I could not even see it for myself. viii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. vi Dedication ........................................................................................................................ viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiv List of Figures ....................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Introduction to the Problem ..............................................................................1 Discussion of Topic .................................................................................................5 Research Questions ..................................................................................................9 Purpose and Significance .......................................................................................11 Limitations .............................................................................................................12 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................13 Instructional Coaching In Between ........................................................................16 Liminality .....................................................................................................17 Coaching role ...............................................................................................19 Power ...........................................................................................................19 Space ............................................................................................................20 Borderlands ..................................................................................................20 Stage 1: Moving Away From a Familiar Context Into Liminality .......................22 History..........................................................................................................23 Literacy coaching .........................................................................................25 ix Science and math coaching ..........................................................................26 Teacher professional development ..............................................................27 Effective professional development .............................................................28 Stage 2: Liminality and the Borderlands ..............................................................30 Defining the coaching role ...........................................................................30 The work of the coach ..................................................................................32 Context .............................................................................................33 Variation ..........................................................................................33 Coach-teacher relationships ........................................................................34 Trust ................................................................................................36 Dialogue ..........................................................................................36 Collaboration ...................................................................................38 Relationships ...................................................................................38 Role of principal .......................................................................................38 Leadership .......................................................................................39 Understanding of role .....................................................................40 Support ............................................................................................41 Best practices ..................................................................................42 Coach as diplomat