Cultivating Leadership: Coaching, Supporting, and Developing Schools Leaders in the Medford Public Schools

Abstract

We know that school leadership really matters. More specifically, school leadership really matters in improving student outcomes. Given this impact, districts must consider how they prepare their school leaders to lead for improved student outcomes. In a 2021 report furnished by the Wallace Foundation, in addition to citing the critical importance of strong principal leadership, the report cites the development of principals as potentially a district’s strongest lever in improving student outcomes (Grissom, Egalite, Lindsay). If principals really matter and how principals are developed really matters, then how does a district best lead this work? How can a district best support, coach, and develop principal talent to improve student outcomes? Furthermore, how can a district do this during the midst of a global pandemic, especially when it requires a complete shift in how things have been done for decades? The Superintendent of the Medford (MA) Public Schools charged me with developing a strategy and plan for how district principals are coached, supported, and developed as a way to ultimately improve student outcomes. This Capstone chronicles the development of a new, three-pronged approach that utilizes 1:1 instructional coaching, communities of practice, and a designated space for operational issues to improve the effectiveness and collaboration of district principals. This Capstone analyzes the process of leading change during the time of COVID-19 and in a context entangled in the status-quo.