This piece comes to us courtesy of EdSource, where it was originally published.
To break down the isolation that many teachers experience in their classrooms, California schools are using instructional coaches as a key tool to help teachers adapt their instruction to implement the Common Core standards in math and English language arts.
Enter Geetha Lakshminarayanan, a math coach who on a recent morning was making her weekly visit to Oakland Technical High School and watching closely to see how students were grappling with exponential equations in Johanna Langill’s Algebra 1 class.
Districts have used coaches –- more formally known as instructional or training specialists –- for years to improve the effectiveness of classroom instruction. Many coach positions were trimmed as a result of cutbacks during the Great Recession. But with the improving economy and the need to get teachers up to speed on the new Common Core standards, districts are turning to instructional specialists as an essential resource.
Now, their help and training is needed more than ever as teachers make the radical shifts in instruction set by the Common Core State Standards, the new academic guidelines for what students should know at each grade level in math and English Language Arts.
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To help teachers adjust to the new Common Core standards, his district has also assigned a coach to each grade level. Last year, some schools had part-time instructional coaches. This year, most of the elementary schools utilize full-time coaches. Additionally, 10 coaches who have been working with middle and high school teachers over the last five years are now helping them settle into the new standards.
Lakshminarayanan, who has been observing Langill’s classes since the beginning of the school year, said she’s witnessed critical changes in Langill’s algebra class. “I see kids relying more on each other and on their own reasoning instead of Miss Langill,” Lakshminarayan said. “They know that when she comes over she’s going to ask them more questions, she’s not going to tell them how to do it.”
For Langill, Lakshminarayanan’s input has been invaluable. “It’s made such a difference,” Langill said. “Sometimes it’s just talking through successes and what is frustrating me that can help me identify what kids need next and what I can do to meet those needs,” she said of her interactions with Lakshminarayanan. “It helps me see the progress that I have made and kids have made.”
This story was produced by EdSource, a nonprofit organization that has the largest education reporting team in California. To receive its no-cost daily reports, please sign up here.
