Mathematics coaching is complex work, and coaches must be supported to become experts in mathematics, mathematics instruction, and mathematics coaching. Using video and interview data from 12 mathematics coaches and one district administrator in one public school district in the southeastern USA, this qualitative study explores how the…

While coaches can have a positive impact on teachers' practice and students' learning, in many school districts teachers have the autonomy to decide whether and when to work with a coach. Coaches then must work to gain access to teachers' classrooms. In a recent study of 28 content-focused coaches, researchers Jen Munson and Evthokia Stephanie…

For coaching to fulfill its promise as an effective teacher professional development model, coaches need access to teachers' classrooms and practice. However, teachers largely have autonomy over whether, when, and how such access is granted. Previous research has identified the types of strategies coaches leverage to gain access, and in this…

Coaches are called upon to provide productive, job-embedded professional development for teachers, but their capacity to do so hinges on gaining access to classrooms. Teachers typically have autonomy over whether, when, and for what they give coaches access to their practice, because, although coaches are viewed as instructional leaders, they lack…

Through this retrospective interview study, we explored the ways in which coaches described how their daily work with teachers was impacted by a pervasive culture of pressure surrounding standardized assessment and achievement in one school district. Ultimately, we identified five ways in which coaches' work with teachers was impacted as a result…

Purpose: Modeling is a potentially productive activity in which coaches can engage teachers to support teaching and learning (Gibbons and Cobb, 2017). Yet, there is a lack of empirical research that describes how coaches can productively implement this activity with teachers. The overarching purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and…

Given the widespread implementation of instructional coaching, it is not surprising that coaching research has explored a variety of topics, including coaching roles and practices, coaches' preparation and ongoing learning, and coaching's impact on teachers and students across subjects such as literacy, mathematics, and technology. Yet little…

The coaching cycle has been identified as a productive activity in which coaches can engage teachers to support teacher learning. Previous research has primarily focused on exploring teachers' learning opportunities during the planning meetings and enacted lessons, while reflection meetings have been left relatively unexplored. In the current…

Although modeling instruction has been identified as a productive professional development activity that coaches can use with teachers in their classrooms, coaches are provided with little guidance regarding how to support teacher learning as they model mathematics instruction. While previous research points to the importance of providing teachers…

While coaching is a well-documented form of professional development to support teachers' instructional practices in mathematics, limited research exists on how coaches can support teachers in differentiating their mathematics instruction. Hence, as part of this retrospective case study, we explored how one instructional coach leveraged a coaching…

This study builds on an initial coaching study that found a strong focus on logistics and a lack of depth in coach-teacher talk during modeling and coteaching cycles in one midsize urban school district. The current study explores how administrative policies and expectations may have shaped these coach-teacher interactions. Data sources include 27…

Coaching is a popular, yet costly, professional development structure. Therefore, understanding the learning opportunities coaching provides is essential. Following a framework by Campbell and Griffin (2017), we explore five elementary school teachers' learning opportunities during 15 meetings and 23 lessons with two instructional coaches in two…

To support continuous professional development model in the teaching and learning of mathematics, many districts and schools have begun hiring elementary mathematics coaches and/or specialists (MCSs). However, limited large-scale empirical research exists that determines how the use of MCSs affect student learning and achievement. Kristin E.…

Although co-teaching has been identified as a potentially productive coaching activity, research has yet to explore the kinds of coach-teacher interactions that are achieved during episodes of co-teaching. This exploratory study examined the foci and depth of coach-teacher interactions (n = 243) across 10 co-taught mathematics lessons between…

This interview study employs a distributed leadership perspective to explore three coach-principal dyads' perspectives on: (1) the strategies coaches use to gain entry to teachers' classrooms; (2) the barriers that impede coaches' access; and (3) the supports that facilitate coaches' access. Results indicate that the principals were largely…