Dissertation Proposal Announcement Ed.D. Program: Gina Mazzariello “More Than a Hire: Instructional Coaches’ Perspectives on Coaching for Systems Reform”

Instructional coaches are increasingly called upon to promote systems reform goals by supporting individual teachers while also advancing organization-wide systemic change. Although research has established the potential for systems-reform coaching, less is known about how coaches perceive and enact their role in the implementation of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), a specific systems reform framework. This gap is especially salient in New Jersey, given recent New Jersey literacy legislation and New Jersey Department of Education guidance positioning instructional coaching as a central mechanism for implementing MTSS for early reading (i.e., K-3). This qualitative study examines how instructional coaches in urban and suburban districts serving K-3 students perceive their role in coaching for systems reform, how they navigate individual teacher needs alongside systems reform goals, and what organizational conditions enable or constrain their work.

The study will be guided by Spillane et al.’s (2002) three dimensions of sensemaking and the implementation science Formula for Success (Fixsen et al., 2015), which holds that effective interventions, effective implementation methods, and enabling contexts are all required for intended outcomes. Together, these frameworks account for how coaches interpret their role and the organizational conditions that shape coaching beyond individual capability. Participants will include 10–12 coaches recruited through convenience and purposive sampling from two New Jersey grant initiatives, each dedicating at least 50% of their coaching to MTSS implementation and having at least one academic year of MTSS experience. Semi-structured interviews will serve as the primary data source, supplemented by district coaching and MTSS documents to contextualize and triangulate findings. Data will be analyzed through thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) using both deductive and inductive coding. Trustworthiness will be supported through triangulation, member checking, and an audit trail.

This study will contribute to understanding how coaches perceive and enact their role within MTSS and how coaching can build systems-level coherence and capacity. Findings will also offer practical insights for district leaders, coach training programs, and state policymakers on the organizational conditions needed for coaching to function as more than a hire.