"Teachers who experience new ways of teaching and have opportunities to reflect on and enhance their use increase their abilities to use and commitment to the new approaches."- Loucks-Horsley et. al, 2003
Leaders of coaching programs need to understand the various models of coaching to design programs appropriate for their particular schools and/or districts. Coaching programs have, at their core, the goal of improving student learning. This is accomplished by collaborating with individual teachers, teacher teams, schools or school districts to improve both content and pedagogical knowledge in teaching mathematics.
Types of Coaching Programs: The PRIME leadership document indicates that there is an art and a science of leading teachers. Specialists and teachers need to be examining student work, designing or modifying lesson plans to enhance mathematical content and instructional effectiveness, and reflecting on completed lessons. Leaders need to adopt or adapt a coaching model to ensure access, equity and excellence for every mathematics student (Prime Leadership Framework, 2008). Leaders can find more information about Types of Coaching Programs on the link to the left.
School District Models: A number of schools have shared the structure of their mathematics specialists and coaching programs for consideration. These exemplars provide specialist duties, program summaries, and program impact and research. Click on the link to the left to explore school/district models from public school districts around the country. This links directly to examples of district models at the Elementary Mathematics Specialists and Teacher Leaders Project website.
"A mathematics coach is an individual who is well versed in mathematics content and pedagogy and who works well directly with classroom teachers to improve student learning in mathematics."- Hull, Balka, Harbin Miles, 2009
