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With the right strategies, coaches can leverage co-teaching
By Ryan Gillespie and Jennifer S. Kruger
April 2022
For teachers and coaches, co-teaching can be exciting, rewarding, and full of powerful learning. It offers teachers supported experiences to apply new knowledge in their own contexts, exemplifying active engagement in job-embedded professional learning (Learning Forward, 2011). However, co-teaching is often underused in coaching (Sweeney & Harris, 2016), in part because sharing teaching responsibilities during a lesson can be complex and challenging. Co-teaching requires the coach and teacher to make continuous, intentional decisions about how and when to take the lead. This kind of decision-making requires strong communication between the teacher and the coach, clarity about a teacher’s learning goals, and a deep understanding of possible co-teaching strategies. As part of a project to help mathematics coaches facilitate content-focused coaching cycles, funded by the National
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References
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Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Corwin Press.
Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Author.
Marzano, R.J. & Simms, J.A. (with Roy, T., Heflebower, T., & Warrick, P.B.). (2013). Coaching classroom instruction. Marzano Research.
Senger, E.S. (1999). Reflective reform in mathematics: The recursive nature of teacher change. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 37(3), 199-221.
Smith, M. & Stein, M. (2018). 5 practices for orchestrating productive mathematics discussions (2nd ed.). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Sweeney, D. & Harris, L.S. (2016). Student-centered coaching: The moves. Corwin Press.
West, L. & Cameron, A. (2013). Agents of change: How content coaching transforms teaching and learning. Heinemann.
West, L. & Staub, F.C. (2003). Content-focused coaching: Transforming mathematics lessons. Heinemann.
Ryan Gillespie (rgillespie@cdaschools.org) is an instructional coach at the Coeur d’Alene School District in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and a professional development specialist at the University of Idaho.
Jennifer S. Kruger (jkruger@warner.rochester.edu) is director of mathematics education outreach at the Center for Professional Development & Educational Reform in the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester.
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