Principal transformational leadership and the Texas Instructional Leadership Action Coaching program : a qualitative case study.

Transformational leadership continues to be in the spotlight, given that school systems are becoming increasingly demanding and complex. Evidence has shown principal effectiveness is foundational to the quality of instruction and student achievement. According to literature, leadership coaching has become one of the fastest growing initiatives in education. In 2017, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Texas Instructional Leadership (TIL) Action Coaching program to foster and equip principal leadership skills through coaching. The purpose of this study was to understand how leadership coaching impacted principal transformation leadership as a result of participating in the TIL Action Coaching program. This qualitative case study with embedded multiple units of analysis included a literature review and a triangulation of methods including an open-ended demographic questionnaire, semistructured interviews, and a document review. The contextual setting for the research was the Region 12 consortium of schools in central Texas. The researcher coded and analyzed three deductive categories and uncovered six inductive emergent themes related to leadership coaching and transformational leadership theoretical frameworks. Data identified the leadership coaching category of transformational processes with the theme of growth and nuances of reflection and collaboration. Regarding the leadership coaching category of listening, observation, and feedback, findings revealed the nuance of personalized supports. The category of transformational leadership revealed the attribute of intellectual stimulation demonstrating the emergent theme of challenge including three nuances of meaning—shared leadership, systems and protocols, and vulnerability.