Rationale for
Whole-School Coaching

        Using mathematical coaches to foster change in instruction and teacher learning is based on research both of learning and effective models of professional development. According to Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000), there are three established principals regarding learning. First, all learners have background knowledge that must be accessed during instruction in order to be successful learning new material. Second, learners who learn – learners with access to their background knowledge, and the ability to understand, and lastly, monitoring a way of successful learning, reflecting on what they do and what needs further explanation to understand, using strategies to increase their knowledge.

        Desimore (2009) described coaching in the realm of what he calls “core conceptual framework” of professional development (p.183). Campbell & Malkus (2011) defined five core elements of this framework. First, the content focus in which the coach facilitates activities where teachers address mathematics pedagogy and content and the way students learn mathematics. Active learning is where the coach engages with teachers in the work of teaching co-planning, designing assessment, observations, providing feedback and utilizing data in their decision making. Next is the coherence aspect in which the coach helps teachers to understand and dig deeper into ideas, connecting their background knowledge and beliefs with the new learning while honoring the demands of the state, district, and the school’s policies. The duration component is where the coach is continuously presenting provoking questions and sustaining attention towards improving teacher practice. Lastly, the collective participation component is when the coach engages in inquiry and reflection within the school community that focus on instructional improvement based on curriculum and the analysis of student data.

         There are multiple methods for coaching and the research available does not agree that one is more effective than another. Joyce & Showers (1980) described peer coaching as a group of teachers that support each other, providing feedback, and helping each other to improve their skills and knowledge in mathematics instruction. A few years later, Loucks-Horsley et al., (1987) introduced the term “help between teachers” to define those teachers who jump in to help improve the teaching of others through professional discussion or mentoring.