What Makes Mathematics Teacher Coaching Effective? A Call for a Justice-Oriented Perspective

Abstract

Mathematics teacher coaching is a promising but largely overlooked form of professional development (PD) for supporting mathematics teachers’ learning of justice-oriented teaching. In this article, we critically review the literature to illuminate what we currently know about mathematics teacher coaching and to highlight studies’ contributions and limitations to inform future work. Broadly, we find that four programs of research have developed, investigating: (a) coaches’ activities and relationships, (b) the effects of coaching on student assessment scores, (c) the effects of coaching on teachers’ practices or behaviors, and (d) the effects of coaching on teachers’ knowledge or beliefs. From this analysis, we argue that justice-oriented perspectives of teaching, in tandem with sociocultural theories of teachers’ learning, could allow for more nuanced investigations of coaching and could support design of learning experiences for teachers that bring us closer to educational justice.

Bridging and brokering across communities of practice: A STEM coach’s role in helping teachers access expertise

“…Navigating the social and emotional landscape of a district has been repeatedly reported to be a difficulty of instructional coaching as coaches find themselves tenuously but centrally positioned between actors (Giamellaro & Siegel, 2018;Kintz et al, 2015;Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021). In this study, which combined both the interior COPs of the district and the exterior COPs of the outside experts, this navigation problem was associated with every aspect of connectivity the coach managed.…”

“…Coaches are often tenuously positioned between COPs (Giamellaro & Siegel, 2018;Kintz et al, 2015;Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021) which can be professionally challenging, but also beneficial for leveraging change within school systems (Hopkins et al, 2013). Coaches, via work with teachers, can have an impact on students' science understanding and overall student achievement (Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021;Sailors & Price, 2015).…”

“…Coaches are often tenuously positioned between COPs (Giamellaro & Siegel, 2018;Kintz et al, 2015;Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021) which can be professionally challenging, but also beneficial for leveraging change within school systems (Hopkins et al, 2013). Coaches, via work with teachers, can have an impact on students' science understanding and overall student achievement (Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021;Sailors & Price, 2015). While coaches can positively impact teacher practices, this is more likely when the coaching is coupled to broader reform efforts (Hopkins et al, 2013;Kintz et al, 2015), and when coach roles are responsive to teacher needs rather than enforcing external mandates (Kennedy, 2016).…”

“…These relationships were often helpful for initiating or maintaining the work, but at times they were also barriers when the coach was not perceived favorably or when she was not well-positioned to bridge or broker between others. We recognized the importance of interpersonal relationships (Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021), but we did not specifically train the coach to productively navigate them, relying on informal guidance and existing ability. Specifically teaching a coach how to navigate these relationships and then supporting her to do so could contribute to efficacy and sustainability of the role.…”

“…Such connections are difficult to make, and it requires knowing what expertise is needed, where to find that expertise, finding time to seek out relationships, and then knowing how to communicate within the external communities. Following existing research, we hypothesized that a STEM coach could assist teachers in making and supporting these connections (Marshall & Buenrostro, 2021;Rakap, 2017). To determine how a STEM coach worked to make these connections, we examined the processes that supported or hindered connectivity in the district.…”