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The resources below offer a high-level overview of conceptual understanding and formative assessment, which are central to high-quality mathematics instruction. All of the iCoachTEAM resources are designed to help promote conceptual understanding and conduct formative assessment. We recommend coaches and teachers review these documents to get oriented to high-quality mathematics instruction as they use the remaining iCoachTEAM resources.

Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics

This resource offers a brief overview of conceptual understanding, its importance in math learning, and how to promote it.

Formative Assessment in Mathematics

This resource offers a brief overview of formative assessment in mathematics instruction, its importance in math teaching and learning, and how to conduct it.

As coaches get ready to coach, they may consider how they will document their work with teachers. The coaching log shared here can help coaches plan and track their coaching activities, especially when using the iCoachTEAM resources.

Coaching Log Template

This coaching log is designed for coaches to track and document coaching throughout the year. Coaches can use the information they collect for personal reflection and to report on coaching progress and impact to stakeholders.

We encourage coaches and teachers to select two to five students in their mathematics class as the focus group for their coaching. Focus students are students whose mathematics test scores are one year or more behind grade level and who represent larger groups of students in the class. For example, one chosen focus student may need help with multiplicative reasoning or with developing mathematical discourse practices, and other students in the class have a similar need.

By selecting focus students, coaches and teachers focus their attention on a defined group of mathematics learners. This intentionality makes coaching more effective, ensuring educators have a clear understanding of the two to five math students guiding their goal setting, classroom visits, and data analysis. Additionally, because focus students are representative of groups of students in the larger class, the instructional strategies and goals developed for focus students typically lead to better learning experiences and outcomes for all students in the classroom.

Asset-Based Math Pedagogy

Instruction that leverages students’ mathematical assets and strengths can improve student learning and build student confidence, particularly for students who are performing below grade level. This resource summarizes asset-based math pedagogy and offers guidance for centering the strengths of focus students in math coaching.

Roster Audit

This resource offers guidance for conducting a roster audit, which can help coaches and teachers consider the strengths and needs of all students as they identify two to five focus students.

Before setting a goal, coaches and teachers can reflect on how they are currently promoting conceptual understanding or using formative assessment with focus students. Reflection allows teachers to identify instructional strengths as well as changes they would like to see in their math instruction. In doing so, reflection can then inform the creation of a goal, ensuring that the goal centers focus students and is related to conceptual understanding or formative assessment.

The iCoachTEAM Watch-For Checklists are intended for use by coaches and teachers to “look for” areas of strength and opportunities for growth. There are two categories of checklists, conceptual understanding and formative assessment, with three checklists to choose from in each category. Teachers record part of a lesson and then use the checklist as a reflection tool while watching the video.

Watch-For Checklists

We suggest that coaches give each mathematics teacher they are coaching one of the six checklists in this document based on the teacher’s needs. The coach can choose the one they think is most valuable for a teacher OR the coach and teacher can discuss and choose one together. When choosing with the teacher, it may help to first discuss if they want to work on conceptual understanding or formative assessment and then, from there, choose one of the related checklists.