Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the perceptions of urban superintendents and the influence of executive coaching on their leadership practices, to identify which phases of the executive coaching process urban superintendents perceive as influential in their leadership practice, to determine which coaching strategies urban superintendents perceive as most important in changing their leadership practice, and to identify what changes urban superintendents recommend to the executive coaching process. Methodology: The study used a mixed methodology that included a survey instrument and semistructured follow-up telephone interviews. Items on the survey instrument were comprised of the eight standards from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the six phases of coaching, and the 32 high-leverage strategies recommended by The Executive Coaching Handbook (Ennis et al., 2008). Findings: Statistical significance was found with four of the eight AASA leadership practices, suggesting that executive coaching positively impacted district culture, politics of school governance, leadership in organizational management, and leadership in human resources management as the most critical aspects of the urban superintendent position. All participants agreed that executive coaching helped them develop procedures for working with the board of education and collaborate effectively with the board when faced with controversial situations. Coaching heightened their efforts to set the tone for district culture. Superintendents believed that building and maintaining the coaching relationship was the most important of the coaching phases that influenced their leadership practices during the executive coaching experience. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that coaching mitigates the negative impact on urban superintendents who try to implement major changes in school districts. It can help free them up to do what is needed to implement real reform. However, superintendents who have received coaching have focused on only four of the areas of leadership practices recommended by the AASA to succeed in these challenging times in urban school districts. Recommendations: All superintendents need to be educated in all eight AASA in order to help students meet their highest potential.