Directive Leadership Coaching

Professional Development Credit – This Micro-Credential may be eligible for continuing professional development credit in your state. Contact your state affiliate association to learn more.

Overview – Directive Leadership Coaching Micro-Credential requires that the practitioner demonstrates proficiency of all essential outcomes and research-based subskills. These include facilitating very specific and directive conversations with the educational leader to develop necessary or critical actions or behaviors and involves strategic and specific directions, evidence-based outcomes, consequences, and next steps. The practitioner further demonstrates processes for support, monitoring and follow-up to the directive coaching process.; including how to provide specific strategies for the conversations to ensure sequential steps are implemented in a timely manner to make necessary or mandated improvements in the educational leader’s performance.

Essential Outcomes – Directive Leadership Coaching includes the following four identified essential outcomes:

1. Engage in collegial, trusting conversations utilizing direct and specific language to address and analyze leadership issues or initiatives.
2. Communicate directly and strategically by focusing on evidence-based problem analysis and provide probing, high-level questions during outcome-based conversations.
3. Provide evidence-based communication, actionable feedback, resources, and support that allow the educational leader to be directly guided through an improvement process.
4. Provide strategies and a prescribed course of action to improve performance by developing plans, setting goals, and a timeline.

Requirements

Part 1 – Overview Questions – Develop a responsive narrative that answers the following questions (1,000-word minimum):

1. Describe the strategies you use during directive coaching conversations with a school leader that build, further and preserve trusting relationships while addressing leadership issues or initiatives.
2. What dialogue and questioning strategies do you use to ensure an outcomes-based directive conversation with an educational leader?
3. How have you prepared for and provided actionable, evidence-based feedback during a directive coaching conversation?
4. What strategies do you incorporate with an educational leader to ensure regular follow-up, so they might demonstrate that they have gained the critical identified knowledge and skills?

Part 2 – Skill Demonstration Product – Develop a 10-15-minute video of a reenactment (role-playing) of you coaching an educational leader that captures the essential outcomes for Directive Leadership Coaching. The video should allow the assessor to see both you and the individual you are coaching so that both verbal and non-verbal language is audible and visible. The video should allow the assessor to evaluate demonstration of all essential outcomes and details.

Videos must include time stamp and use a short scripting technique or narrative summary to demonstrate to the assessor how you have shown evidence of indicated essential outcomes.

For each EO detail you will be required to reference an uploaded artifact(s) and guide the assessor to the specific evidence (page number, video time stamp, etc.) within the uploaded artifact(s). An explanation of how the evidence demonstrates proficiency of the outcome detail is also required. The practitioner must clearly and compellingly demonstrate proficiency of every detail under each essential outcome.

Part 3 – Reflection & Application – Submit, in writing, a summary of your experience of Directive Leadership Coaching (500-word minimum); highlight and provide specific examples of how you applied the four essential outcomes of Directive Leadership Coaching. This could include topics covered and how you supported the school leader and worked directly to develop a plan to improve and change critical behaviors. Include a reflection about the impact of this skill on your professional practice and how you will continue to apply it in the future.