Personalized Coaching

Powerful leaders are developed through powerful coaching.

Marshall Leadership Institute offers personalized coaching designed to support education leaders in achieving both school and professional growth. Combining the best of our cohort-based learning experiences with additional levels of support from a dedicated and experienced coach, the program is designed to empower school leaders to be effective change agents and to drive meaningful improvement in their schools.

The program includes one-on-one coaching sessions that take a variety of forms, depending on the school, the leader, and their needs. These sessions provide an opportunity for school leaders to reflect on their leadership practice, refocus on what’s most important, problem solve, and develop and implement actionable plans for achieving their school goals.Together, you and your Marshall coach will identify the highest priority coaching levers early in the school year and re-evaluate as needed.

What does personalized coaching include?

The program includes one-on-one coaching sessions with a trained and experienced school leader coach, held approximately once a week over the course of the school year. It is a powerful and effective way for school leaders to get the thought-partnership and support they need to build the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to lead their schools to success and improve student learning. While personalized coaching programs are developed individually to meet each organization’s unique needs, our coaching partnerships typically combine elements of the following components.

  • In today’s rapidly-evolving educational landscape, it’s essential for school leaders to continually enhance their skills and stay aligned with their schools’ objectives. Personalized coaching guides leaders through a process to develop a customized growth plan aligned with their personal goals and their school’s needs. Through close collaboration with their Marshall coach, leaders can develop effective strategies to enhance their leadership skills, apply new techniques and methods, and receive ongoing feedback from both their Marshall coach and key stakeholders. With this level of support, leaders remain focused on their growth objectives, even amidst a busy schedule, and can confidently and successfully lead their schools.

  • As a school leader, each day presents challenges that require careful decision-making. Our coaching sessions are designed to help leaders effectively tackle these challenges by breaking them down through targeted questioning. Marshall coaches guide leaders in identifying the underlying values that should guide their decisions and work collaboratively to develop a range of options to choose from. While Marshall coaches are always available to offer their perspectives and expertise, they prioritize a facilitative coaching approach that empowers leaders to make informed decisions with confidence.

  • All leaders need specific guidance at times to enhance and balance their unique skill sets. In such cases, Marshall coaches use an I Do, We Do, You Do model to provide targeted support. Marshall coaches begin by demonstrating the skill, followed by collaborative practice in coaching sessions. Once the leader is comfortable with the new approach, Marshall coaches observe them implementing it in their role, provide feedback, and facilitate ongoing reflection until the skill is mastered. This process empowers leaders to achieve their full potential and lead their schools with confidence.

  • Being a school leader demands a broad range of content knowledge, from pedagogical theories to state and federal education laws. To help leaders navigate this challenge, Marshall leaders begin with a content pre-assessment that identifies leaders’ knowledge gaps. Throughout the year, Marshall coaches work closely with leaders to close any identified gaps and build upon their existing strengths. By taking a proactive approach, leaders can confidently navigate the complex landscape of education and make informed decisions that benefit their school community.

  • At the heart of effective leadership is the ability to lead by example and actively engage with your school community. That’s why Marshall coaches prioritize observation and hands-on experience as a crucial part of our coaching approach. During our shadow days, Marshall coaches immerse themselves in leaders’ school environments and observe their interactions with students, teachers, faculty, and parents. This experience often uncovers valuable insights and opportunities for growth that are difficult to replicate in a traditional coaching meeting. By debriefing and sharing key learnings together, coaches and leaders work collaboratively to build upon leaders’ strengths and continue to elevate their skills.

  • A significant part of a school leader’s role involves driving positive change within the school community. However, change is often challenging and requires intentional planning to build momentum, gain buy-in from stakeholders, establish clear plans, and embed it in a school’s culture. At every step of this complex process, Marshall coaches are available to support leaders, from planning and implementation to long-term sustainability. By working together, we can help leaders achieve their goals and create a thriving school environment that supports student success.

Aligning Day-to-Day Actions with Long-Term Leadership Goals

Anthony Clarke

Executive Director, Summit Olympus

“The coaching I have received from Marshall Street has helped me intentionally connect the moves I make in the day-to-day with the bigger picture goals I have for my students, school, and community. Having a regular space to process what I was experiencing and ‘zoom up’ helped immensely. Over the year, my coach helped me meet my own personal growth goals as an instructional leader, strategic planner, and systems thinker.”

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1-10 hours a week, based on your coaching support needs.

  • The coaches are all successful principals and executive directors who have extensive experience supporting the development and coaching of school leaders at all levels.

  • You can expect your coach to always be fully present, proactive, and responsive. They’ll work with you to uncover your greatness, will support you in clarifying your thinking and plans, and stay relentlessly focused on the connection between your leadership and results for young people.

  • Our coaches have at least a decade of school site experience. They know the flow of the school year and the challenges and opportunities that arise at each phase. Your coach will balance proactive coaching with responsive coaching and will offer you much needed space to step back and reflect on leadership challenges from a new perspective.

  • Due to the customization of the partnership, the Marshall Personalized Coaching fee ranges. Schedule a discovery call with us to receive a customized quote.

Explore Our Offerings

Launched by and for school leaders, Marshall Leadership Institute helps unlock the teacher-to-school leader pipeline for public charter school communities across the United States.​

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    Pipeline Development

    Ready to build a sustainable leadership pipeline that cultivates powerful school leadership from within your community? Marshall Leadership Institute partners with school communities to build a pipeline of transformational leaders from your community.

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    ​​Cohort-Based Leadership Development​

    Looking for individual support for your schools’ current leaders? Marshall Leadership Institute offers cohort-based learning to accelerate the development of authentic and powerful leadership skills within your current leaders.

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    Our Leadership Pedagogy

    What underpins our approach to leadership? Marshall Leadership Institute offers specialized programming for school and system leaders at every career stage

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