Instructional coaching has become an increasingly popular and effective intervention to help teachers strengthen their practice and improve student outcomes.¹,² However, the role of instructional coaches can vary widely, and it isn’t always precisely defined. While coaches are often responsible for observing teachers and offering actionable feedback, coaches themselves aren’t often observed or provided with feedback for their own growth and development. When they are, instructional coaches are often observed with the same tools used to evaluate classroom teachers, which are poorly aligned to coaches’ professional role and their interactions with other adults.

If you’re an education leader in a school, district, or state that employs instructional coaches, in any content area, read on to learn about a first-of-its-kind rubric that districts in Kentucky are using to evaluate and provide feedback to improve coaches’ effectiveness!

Supporting Mathematics Teaching in Kentucky Through Instructional Coaching

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Mathematics Achievement Fund (MAF) grant program funds training and release time for teachers to serve as school-based mathematics coaches in 13 elementary schools across Kentucky. KDE staff collect a lot of data on teachers and students in the MAF schools to understand whether the program is impacting teaching and learning as intended. In 2022, however, KDE staff came to REL Appalachia with a question – how can we determine whether coaches are effectively implementing the mathematics coaching practices they learned in their training?

Creating a Coaching Conversation Observation Rubric

To address this challenge, the REL Appalachia team partnered with KDE staff and other mathematics coaching experts in Kentucky to co-develop an observation rubric to assess the quality of conversations between MAF coaches and the teachers they support. District leaders who supervise MAF coaches are using the rubric to evaluate them and provide feedback, as are MAF coaches themselves to self-assess their own practice. KDE program leaders are also using the rubric to measure implementation and impact of the overall MAF program.

To access the observation rubric, along with presentation materials about the MAF program and the rubric development process, click here.

Research-Based Components of Coaching Practice

The rubric includes four research-based components that reflect what MAF coaches have been trained to address during a coaching conversation.

In addition to helping teachers understand and implement the Kentucky Academic Standards for Mathematics (Component 1), the rubric outlines how MAF coaches support teachers’ use of eight effective mathematical teaching practices identified by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as being critical to developing deep conceptual understanding of mathematics (Component 2). MAF coaches help teachers strengthen their practice through cognitive coaching, a widely used approach to instructional coaching that supports teachers to become self-directed learners (Component 3) and continuity in the coaching cycle to ensure that coaching sessions build on each other in a cohesive way (Component 4).

Each component is further divided into three or four dimensions, each dimension representing a practice expected to occur during a coaching conversation with a teacher.

Levels of Coaching Practice

The rubric describes four levels of coaching practice — integrated, developed, growing, and attempted — for each dimension.

Applying the Coaching Conversation Rubric in Other Contexts

Even though the rubric was developed to reflect expectations of the MAF program in Kentucky, it could be modified and applied in other contexts as well.

• To use the rubric in another state or district, education leaders could modify the first component (which is specific to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Mathematics) to reflect standards in their own states. If necessary, leaders could also revise the second component (which reflects effective mathematics teaching practices developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) to reflect pedagogical strategies that are being emphasized in their schools, districts, or states.
• To assess instructional coaches who focus on different content areas, education leaders could modify the first and second components (which are specific to mathematics standards and effective mathematics teaching practices). For example, modified versions of the rubric could reflect the Next Generation Science Standards or the Standards for English Language Arts from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The third and fourth components of the rubric reflect instructional coaching methods that are less specific to a particular state or content area, and therefore they could be applied with minimal modification to coaches beyond the MAF program. The cognitive coaching approach and continuity in the coaching cycle are grounded in research and associated with improved teacher self-efficacy, increased teacher reflection on practice, and improved student outcomes.³, ⁴, ⁵, ⁶ In some cases, however, education leaders may want to modify those components to reflect other specific expectations of a different coaching program.

If you’re interested in using the Coaching Conversation Observation Rubric in another context, please let us know at REL.Appalachia@sri.com or tweet at us @REL_Appalachia.

Accessing Other Resources from Across the REL Program

Also, you can check out the evidence-based REL resources below for other ways to support instructional coaches and improve mathematics instruction.

Resources to support instructional coaching

• Instructional Coaching for English Language Arts: Practices and Outcomes: This infographic summarizes key findings about how instructional coaching interventions can improve student outcomes in reading/English language arts.
• Self-Study Guide for Evidence-Based Coaching for Literacy: PreK–Grade 12: This self-study guide helps administrators, teacher leaders, and coaches determine which components of literacy coaching to prioritize based on data from coach schedules, lesson plans, professional development agendas, and other similar documents.
• Improving Teacher Performance Through Instructional Coaching: This infographic provides an overview of how instructional coaching can affect student achievement by enhancing teachers' knowledge and skills.
• Instructional Coaching in K–12 — A Literature Review and Discussion Questions: This systematic literature review summarizes research on the goals of coaching, definitions of a coaching cycle, effective coaching practices, and structural supports for implementation of effective coaching.

Resources to support high-quality mathematics instruction

• Planting SEAD in Mathematics for Meaningful Learning: This blog post describes another collaboration between REL Appalachia and KDE to help educators implement social, emotional, and academic development (SEAD) in mathematics. This infographic also describes the benefits of SEAD in mathematics and strategies for connecting social and emotional capacities to math instruction.
• How Educators and Caregivers Can Create Supportive Conditions for Success in PreK-12 Mathematics: This infographic offers a framework for effective mathematics instruction in prekindergarten through grade 12 and includes freely available, evidence-based resources from across the REL program that all educators can use immediately to promote supportive math learning both in school and in partnership with families and caregivers in the community.
• Resources Educators Can Use and Share with Families to Promote a Mathematical Mindset: This infographic presents strategies and resources educators can use to promote students’ positive attitudes about mathematics and their mathematical habits of mind.
• 6 Steps to Build Research into Cohesive Math Professional Learning: This infographic describes how school and district leaders can integrate research and educator expertise into professional learning.
• The Sum Is Greater Than the Parts: Engaging Community to Promote Math Learning: This infographic offers strategies for building school–community partnerships that are associated with increased student self-confidence and mathematics achievement.