Principal-Coach Agreements: On the Same Page

********************************************************************************************************************

You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.

********************************************************************************************************************

Not surprisingly, the biggest predictor of how impactful coaching will be is how instructional coaches spend their time. When coaches work directly with teachers (rather than organizing assessments, ordering materials, doing car-rider duty, etc.) their work has an expanding influence: there’s a positive ripple effect from each teacher to all of their students. So making sure you and your principal are on the same page when it comes to coaching roles and responsibilities is important. And it’s a lot more comfortable to communicate about it before there’s a problem, rather than after.

Across the country, coaches take many different forms, and assigned tasks vary. Assuming that you and your principal visualize your job in the same way can create problems for you, your principal, and the teachers you serve. Starting the year with a principal-coach agreement in place creates clarity and makes the work smoother and more effective.  

If you are a returning coach – heading back to the same school with the same principal – familiar coaching routines with well-established systems may already be in place. For others, coaching may be brand new, the coach may be in a new school, or the principal may have changed – or perhaps the coach’s role has never been clearly defined. In many schools, coaching take on duties that make their role less-impactful than it could be. In these cases, taking the time to clarify expectations through a principal-coach agreement can help create a more purposeful start to the year.

A principal-coach agreement outlines how the coach and principal will collaborate and what the coach’s responsibilities will look like. Putting these expectations in writing helps eliminate ambiguity and builds a shared understanding of the work ahead.

Key questions that a principal-coach agreement might address include:

·        What will communication between the coach and principal look like? How often will they meet?

·        Which teachers will the coach work with? (Ideally, every teacher!)

·        What content areas or topics will the coaching focus on?

·        What specific roles will the coach take on? (e.g., co-planning, modeling, analyzing student work)

·        How will coaching be embedded into the school day for teachers?

·        What boundaries around confidentiality will be honored in the teacher-coach relationship?

·        How will the success of coaching be measured?

·        What tools, time, or other resources are available to support the coach?

Coaching thrives with strong leadership. Research shows that when principals visibly support the coach’s expertise, affirm that all teachers benefit from coaching, and trust the coach to manage their time independently, teacher participation in coaching increases.*  A supportive principal and clearly defined coaching role are essential for success.**

To help you get started, I’ve created some tools to guide the development of a principal-coach agreement: reflection questions, templates, and samples that illustrate how others have approached this work. If you’d like to receive these resources, just fill out this form and I’ll send them your way.

Once you and your principal have reached clarity, think about how to share your agreement with staff. When teachers see the principal and coach working in partnership, it sets a powerful tone for the collaborative work ahead.

When I began as a literacy coach years ago, coaching was still a new thing – no other schools in my district had a coach, but my principal wanted to give it a try. We didn’t have a roadmap—we found our way together, often discussing questions like those listed above. While coaching has become much more common, it still varies widely from school to school. That’s why taking time to co-create a clear, shared vision at the beginning of the year is an important first step for the school year. Having a shared understanding of the work right from the start sets a tone that makes coaching effective.

* Matsumura, L. C., Sartoris, M., Bickel, D. D., & Garnier, H. E. (2009). Leadership for literacy coaching: The principal’s role in launching a new coaching program. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(5), 655–693.

**Matsumura, L. C., Garnier, H. E., & Spybrook, J. (2012). The effect of content-focused coaching on the quality of classroom text discussions. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(3), 214–228.

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Saying “no” respectfully prevents burnout:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/why-saying-no-can-be-a-smart-career-move
 
 
Coaching for “will” vs. “skill”:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/dig-deeper-offers-a-framework-for-coaching-teachers
 
 
Rewarding intelligent rule-breaking fosters innovation:
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-algorithmic-mind/202507/how-to-teach-kids-to-break-the-rules-intelligently
 
 
Offering opportunities for students to keep thinking:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/alert-mistakes-in-progress/
 
 
Effective teacher-to-teacher communication:
 
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-importance-of-effective-teacher-to-teacher-communication-3194691
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: JUL2026 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!

Coaches, Lead with the Why

 
******************************************************************************************************************
You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
******************************************************************************************************************

Whether you are leading in your family, a community group, or your role as an instructional coach, Starting with the why makes a big difference in how a recommendation is taken up or how a new program is implemented.
 
Leading with the why means communicating the purpose, cause, or belief first. Championed by author Simon Sinek, this idea of leading with the why means starting with the reason before offering advice or direction. When we lead with the why, we save the what until later.
 
Summer is not over yet, even though school supplies are front and center in the stores! It’s still summer, and summer is a season when you can strengthen coaching habits that don't require a classroom or a coaching cycle. Whether you're encouraging a family member to try a new restaurant, suggesting a vacation route, recommending a book to a friend, or helping someone solve a problem, you can practice leading with the why.
 
When you lead with the why, your suggestions are received differently. When you’re back in school, this will mean communicating first the reason behind a recommendation, and then following up with your idea. The order of these steps matters. Instead of beginning with what someone should do, first communicate why a recommendation matters. When teachers understand the reason behind a suggestion, they are far more likely to consider it, adapt it, and ultimately use it.
 
The Why Opens the Door
 
In situations where we are taking some kind of leadership role, it's tempting to jump quickly to solutions because we genuinely want to help. Yet advice offered without context can sound like one more strategy to add to an already full plate.
 
Leading with the why can change that conversation. When coaching, if teachers first hear the purpose, they begin to see the instructional challenge, recognize its impact on students, and understand why a particular strategy might make a difference. The recommendation doesn’t feel arbitrary – it feels connected.
 
One simple coaching equation captures this idea:
Evidence + Advice = Recommendation
 
Making recommendations is a frequent and effective coaching tool.  However, the effectiveness of coaching recommendations rests on the teacher’s perception of their relevance.  Unless the reason for the recommendation is clear, there’s little chance that the suggestion will be used.
 
In our recommendation equation, evidence is information about how instruction is working.  The evidence is most effective when tied with student outcomes rather than being focused solely on the teacher.  Such feedback is deliberate, explicit, and opens the door for a recommendation. Advice by itself often falls flat. Evidence gives the advice meaning.
 
Here’s an example:  In a debrief session after observing very limited classroom discussion, the coach offered this advice:  “You might try using sticks with students’ names or some other random name generator to call on students.”  What made the recommendation effective, however, was the evidence that preceded it: “When you called on only students with their hands raised, most of the students didn’t contribute to the conversation.”  This evidence provided the warrant for the recommendation. The teacher first saw the need, then heard a possible solution. 
 
Notice that the evidence isn't evaluative. It isn't, "You didn't call on enough students." Instead, it simply describes what happened and connects it to student learning. Neutral observations create awareness without creating defensiveness.
 
Rather than including an evaluative comment, information that lays the groundwork for a recommendation is provided in a non-judgmental way.  It awakens awareness of the need for change and increases the teacher’s receptiveness to advice.  Providing neutral, goal-related facts* about performance in relation to a goal is an important “part one” of a recommendation.  Effective coaching begins with careful observation that yields evidence of the effectiveness of instruction. 
 
Use Noticings to Communicate the Why

Another way to offer the “why” for a recommendation is by stating it as a “noticing.” I like to memorize sentence starters so that I can prompt myself during a coaching conversation. My sentence starter for noticings is, “I’ve noticed that when the teacher ____, students ____.” I’ve found this handy sentence stem is flexible and effective. The noticing can be specific to the teacher’s class: “I’ve noticed that when you use the doc cam to model, your kids follow directions better” or a more general observation: “I’ve noticed when teachers use the last two minutes of a lesson for reflection, students often make new connections.” The frame can be stated as a negative, “I’ve noticed that when teachers move on to another student after a wrong answer, kids often shut down” or a positive: “I’ve noticed that when teachers probe an answer that seems wrong, they can often uncover a kernel of correct thinking to build on.”

Each of these examples quietly answers an important question: Why does this matter? A recommendation may come next, but the teacher has already heard the purpose.

During the summer (or any time you’re with family and friends), you can listen for opportunities to explain your reasoning before offering your opinion. Instead of saying, Before you suggest a restaurant or book, first, describe a preference or interest. The more often you lead with purpose in ordinary conversations, the more naturally you'll do it in coaching conversations this fall.

Carry the Why into a New School Year

As the school year approaches, consider the recommendations you'll soon be making. Is there a new initiative that will be unfolding? Starting with the why could create authentic buy-in. During planning conversations. debriefs and informal hallway discussions, before offering a strategy, pause and ask yourself:

Have I helped the teacher understand why this matters?

We can start by sharing the evidence or offering a noticing. As we connect the instructional move to its impact on students, our recommendations matter more.

This week, pay attention to your everyday conversations and challenge yourself to explain the why before the what. Observe how people respond. Strengthening this coaching habit helps new initiative and recommendations feel more like opportunities. The strongest coaching conversations lead with the why.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Sparks for deeper coaching conversations:
 
https://learningforward.org/2026/01/08/take-coaching-conversations-deeper-this-year/
Mixed messages about device bans:
 
https://www.k12dive.com/news/ed-tech-pushback-risks-shortchanging-students-these-school-leaders-say/825346/
 
Deepen elementary students’ learning with Word Journals:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/word-journal-project-elementary-students
 
 
High schoolers using physical books for research:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-use-books-high-school-research
 
Leadership lessons learned in the classroom:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/leadership-lessons-from-a-seasoned-educator
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: JUL2026 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
 

Coaches, Stay Curious

********************************************************************************************************************
You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
********************************************************************************************************************

If someone asked me to name one coaching move that consistently leads to meaningful conversations, I wouldn’t choose a protocol, a planning tool, or even a favorite strategy.
 
I'd choose curiosity.
 
The more I coach, the more convinced I become that curiosity—not certainty—is one of our best coaching tools. Unfortunately, it’s also an easy habit to lose. Like any habit, curiosity grows stronger when we intentionally practice it – and we don't need to be in a school building to do that!  Summer is a time to recharge, but it's also a time to strengthen the habits we'll rely on throughout the school year.
 
Curiosity isn’t only for coaching conversations. The habits that make us better instructional coaches can be practiced in ordinary moments—while reading a book, talking with a neighbor, visiting a museum, or simply paying closer attention to the people around us.
 
During the school year, teachers bring us real challenges and we want to help. Our experience naturally leads us to possible solutions, and before we know it, we're sharing ideas before we've fully explored the teacher's thinking. To stem, that tide, we need to practice curiosity.
 
While there are certainly times when teachers need resources or suggestions, coaching with curiosity invites teachers to do the intellectual work of making meaning, considering possibilities, and deciding what comes next. Our questions open that door.
 
Questions Signal Exploration
 
Questions shift conversations away from finding the "right" answer and toward exploring possibilities.
 
During a coaching conversation with Ashley, a junior high instructional coach, I began by asking, “What have you been wondering about as you implement small-group math instruction?"
 
Ashley described how the sixth-grade team was experimenting with cross-classroom instruction, grouping students with the teacher whose strengths best matched their learning needs. As she reflected, Ashley shared several wonderings. She wondered whether introducing a new instructional structure in March—just weeks before state assessments—was asking too much of teachers. She wondered whether teachers saw the work as worthwhile despite everything else competing for their attention. She was also curious about whether the student data would eventually reflect the promise they were hoping to see.
 
What struck me was how rich the conversation became because we stayed with her curiosity instead of moving immediately to solutions. Rather than reassuring her or offering suggestions, I responded, "I'm curious about that first wondering. Are your teachers seeing these small groups as an intervention that supports students' readiness for the upcoming assessment?"
 
That question invited Ashley to continue making sense of what she was observing. It helped us consider the situation from multiple perspectives.
Productive coaching conversations leave room for wondering. So do engaging conversations with friends and family.
 
In a conversation with a friend who is considering changing jobs, you could practice curiosity. Instead of saying, “I wouldn’t leave your current job,” you could ask, “What kind of work gives you energy?” or “What are you hoping life will look like in a few years?” Questions like these encourage exploration and give us a chance to practice curiosity now.
 
Questions Create Agency
 
One reason curiosity matters so much is that questions shift the thinking to teachers. When coaches do all the thinking, teachers leave with our ideas. When teachers do the thinking, they leave with ownership – and that's an important distinction.
 
Questions like the following invite others into curiosity and agency:

·        What are you noticing?

·        What surprises you?

·        What if...?

·        What makes you curious here?

·        What could go right?

Questions like these encourage experimentation instead of perfection. They are an invitation to imagine alternatives, compare possibilities, and test ideas without feeling that everything has to work perfectly. That kind of curiosity builds confidence because it reinforces agency rather than dependence.
 
Curiosity Helps Us See What We Might Otherwise Miss
 
Another reason to practice curiosity (now and later, in your coaching) is that curiosity keeps us from making assumptions. As coaches, it can be easy to think we've seen a situation before, so our minds begin filling in the blanks. Curiosity interrupts that habit. There is almost always more beneath the surface than we initially see. Curiosity helps us stay open long enough to discover it.
 
Summer Is a Wonderful Time to Practice Curiosity
 
Even ordinary moments become opportunities to practice curiosity. The habits of curiosity we cultivate now can be carried into the school year. So as we enjoy the distinctive pace of summer, I invite you to practice curiosity. Notice and wonder. Ask another question. Assume less. Be surprised!
 
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said, "We run this company on questions, not answers." That philosophy seemed to work!
 
Curiosity is a habit that makes every coaching conversation better, and it can be practiced almost anywhere—in conversations with friends, while traveling, during a morning walk, or through conversation with someone who sees the world differently. Those small moments quietly prepare us for the coaching conversations waiting in the fall.

This week, you might want to take a look at: