Early childhood math coaching: relationships and strategies.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20018678

Falling scores in American student achievement in mathematics has prompted renewed interest in elementary math instruction. By their own admission, elementary school teachers, however, are not always comfortable teaching math. On-site math coaches/specialists can help teachers implement best practices and new standards. Since teachers' sense of efficacy has been shown to affect their instructional practices and, in turn, their students' math achievement, coaches' support of such efficacy is essential. This qualitative case study explored the relationships between elementary math coaches and early childhood educators. The goal was to identify the strategies most effective in developing and supporting teachers' sense of efficacy. Three pairs of teachers and coaches/specialists were interviewed using open-ended questions. The interviews took place in three independent schools in a large urban setting in the northeastern United States. The results of this study underlined the importance of modeling and co-teaching as effective ways of supporting teachers' sense of efficacy. Further, these results added to the existing research on the importance of non-evaluative, supportive and collaborative relationships between coaches and teachers. One implication for practice is to insure that coaches' job descriptions allow for these relational elements. Additional implications for best practices and further research are discussed.