Supervisors of math teachers often struggle to provide effective feedback due to a lack of comfort with math content, particularly in middle and high school coursework. This can have a significant negative impact on students and their math outcomes, as every teacher deserves quality coaching and feedback.
Importance of Feedback in Math Instruction
A study from 2023 found that students performed significantly better in math classes when their teachers participated in math-focused professional development that provided personalized, real-time feedback. This suggests that when teachers don’t receive math-specific professional development and ongoing feedback and support, schools miss an important opportunity to improve outcomes for students.
Based on experiences as school leaders, three moves can be made to improve math instruction and increase math scores. These strategies have been used to coach other school leaders and can be applied to improve math instruction.
Adapting or Adopting Shared Practices
Leaders who supervise mathematics instruction can lean heavily on preexisting principles and publications about teaching math, such as the Standards for Mathematical Practice. For example, Math Practice 5 (MP5) is about using appropriate tools strategically, including technology tools. When observing a math classroom, and students correctly identify a digital tool to support their ability to solve problems, it’s clear that the teaching and learning environment is suitable and effective.
Leaders can also find resources from math-specific associations, such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which supports featured books, journals, and other practical guides. These resources can be used to create a shared space or library with math teachers around specific methods for delivering math instruction.
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Providing Math-Focused Professional Development
Much of the professional development that teachers and school leaders receive is about pedagogy, classroom management, and curriculum resources. However, learning more about the content is as important as learning how to teach it, particularly for math teachers. Key strategies can help educators refine how they teach, and these should be the focal point of the professional development.
Attending math-focused professional development with teachers helps administrators build a better understanding of the math, and it strengthens the use of a set of common practices. This is especially true of teachers who aren’t solely responsible for a particular math subject, like algebra, and can inform implementation of new teaching methods.
School leaders don’t need to implement all three moves at once or in exactly the same way. They can begin with one clearly defined instructional practice, study it alongside teachers during math-focused professional development, and then visit classrooms to see how it appears in practice. Over time, this interactive cycle can help leaders become more knowledgeable and confident, ensuring that math teachers receive the consistent, content-specific feedback they deserve.
By adapting or adopting a set of shared standards, providing specific math professional development, school leaders can provide effective feedback to math teachers, ultimately improving math instruction and increasing math scores.
