If you have ever worked in a school that is being overseen by an organization not linked to the district (e.g. a state receiver or external operator), you understand the unique challenges that teachers and leaders in such schools face every day. One of the challenges is that state mandates and externally imposed structures can compromise a teacher’s sense of autonomy, as they leave teachers with little to no say in the instructional process. Because teacher efficacy has a meaningful effect on school and student outcomes (Donohoo et al., 2018), that’s a problem for everyone involved. Instructional coaches have an important role to play in this situation because it is our job to build teacher efficacy and capacity or, as a school leader once told me,