Building the Dream Team: How Instructional Coaches Can Collaborate with Administrators

coaching role organizational shifts relationships Sep 15, 2025

by Katie Maciulewicz

Instructional coaches have the opportunity to impact everyone in a school building. We work with teachers, we work with students, and, if we want to truly create change, we work with administrators.

Building a collegial and collaborative relationship with administrators is crucial for creating a supportive environment for teachers and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. When we work effectively with our admin, we can all leverage our unique strengths and perspectives to provide comprehensive support for teachers, ultimately leading to improved teaching practices and student outcomes.

Here are some strategies for collaborating to support teachers and to create school- and system-wide change:

🎯 Align coaching goals with school and district goals.

If we want our coaching efforts to lead to meaningful change, coaches and administrators have to work together to align coaching goals with the overall goals of the school and district. This alignment helps to ensure that coaching efforts are focused on the areas that will have the greatest impact on student achievement.

Example: If a district goal is to improve students’ writing skills, then the coach and administrator can work together to first provide teachers with professional development and then follow up with support in implementing effective writing strategies in the classroom. In this way, our efforts are directly connected to school goals and to the efforts of administrators.

🤝 Clearly define roles and responsibilities.

It is also important for both coaches and administrators to have a clear understanding of our respective roles and responsibilities. This helps avoid duplication of effort and ensures that teachers receive consistent and coordinated support – a sort of divide and conquer approach, if you will.

Example: The administrator might be responsible for providing resources and support (and funding) for teachers’ professional development, while the coach is responsible for providing individualized coaching and feedback to teachers.

📞 Establish open communication channels.

Regular and open communication is essential for effective collaboration. This can be achieved through regular meetings, shared documents, and other communication tools. The Core of Coaching Framework also suggests periodic “Leadership Debriefs,” in which coaches and administrators review the progress of the coaching initiative. Remember how we aligned our coaching to school goals? This is where we evaluate how well that’s going and whether additional resources or support are needed.

Example: As a coach, I meet weekly with my building administrators to discuss teacher progress, share data, and plan support strategies.

💪 Foster a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility.

Coaches and administrators should work together to create a culture where everyone feels responsible for supporting teachers and improving student outcomes. This can be achieved by promoting collaboration, sharing best practices, and celebrating successes.

Example: We can foster a sense of connection and community by facilitating collaboration among teachers, creating opportunities for peer learning, and celebrating successes as a team, promoting continuous improvement in school-wide meetings and encouraging teachers to take active roles in improvement and new ideas.

📊 Use data to inform decision-making.

If we want to identify where teachers need support and measure the impact of coaching efforts, we have to collect data. A data-driven approach helps both coaches and administrators ensure that support is not just effective, but also focused on the appropriate strategies and skills to build teacher effectiveness and student success.

Example: Coaches and administrators might analyze student achievement data, teacher observation data, and teacher feedback to determine professional development needs. If we have access as coaches, we might also use data from a school’s LMS, data dashboards, spreadsheets, and classroom observation tools to support school/district-wide initiatives or instructional goals.

With these strategies, we can create a strong partnership with building and district administrators that effectively supports teachers and promotes student success, driving organizational shifts and leading to lasting instructional improvements.

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