Sense-Makers, Messengers, and Mediators of the New Mathematics Standards: Math Coaches in the Math in Common Community of Practice

The five-year Math in Common (MiC) initiative supports a formal network of 10 California school districts as they implement the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS‑M) across grades K–8.

With the introduction of new math standards, many U.S. school districts are turning to coaches to support teachers in interpreting the standards and bringing them to life in the classroom.

WestEd researchers were interested in the ways in which districts are utilizing coaches from the perspective of both staff and coaches. This report explores the following questions:

• What do districts ask their coaches to do and why?
• How do district systems and choices about resource allocation for coaching support or hinder standards implementation?
• Have the demands of coaching changed since new math standards, or have districts’ common understandings about what works been modified?

The report offers recommendations designed to help school districts consider how to structure coaching activities that will work best in their environment.

Download Previous MiC Reports

• Under Construction: Benchmark Assessments and Common Core Math Implementation in Grades K–8
• Classroom Observations: Documenting Shifts in Instruction for Districtwide Improvement
• Taking Stock of Common Core Math Implementation: Supporting Teachers to Shift Instruction – Insights from the Math in Common 2015 Baseline Survey of Teachers and Administrators
• Many Pathways to Student Success in Mathematics: Middle and High School Math Course Sequences and Placement Decisions in the Math in Common Districts
• Bringing the Common Core State Standards to Life Through Site-Located Teacher Learning Structures
• Principals as Instructional Leaders: Harnessing Teacher and Administrator Perceptions from the 2016 Math in Common Annual Surveys
• Three Structures in the Garden Grove Unified School District That Support Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
• Instructional Materials: Who Makes the Choice? Findings from the Annual Survey on Implementing the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
• Professional Learning Community Facilitators’ Guide to Discussion of “English Language Learners and the New Standards: Developing Language, Content Knowledge, and Analytical Practices in the Classroom”