Create a Goal and Plan (iCoachTEAM)

After using a watch-for checklist to reflect on current instruction, the coach and teacher use this guide to set a goal that centers focus students and aligns with promoting conceptual understanding or conducting formative assessment.

Goal-Setting Guide
This resource provides coaches and teachers a structure and template for goal-setting, so teachers can easily create a goal for their teaching that directly centers students’ math learning.

The iCoachTEAM Strategy List includes high-impact strategies grounded in mathematics education research with strong evidence of their effectiveness. iCoachTEAM strategies synthesize research findings into brief informational documents to help teachers work toward their goal by leveraging high-quality, research-based instructional practices that can be supported with technology. When using the strategies in this list, teachers focus their professional learning on practices that will make a real difference in students’ mathematics learning.

The teacher selects a math teaching strategy from the iCoachTEAM Math Strategy List that will help them achieve their goal. When choosing a strategy, coaches and teachers can consider the focus students to select a strategy that will leverage focus students’ strengths and address their needs.

To simplify the choice for the teacher, the coach can first narrow the options to a smaller number of strategies based on the goal and the teacher’s needs and interests. Whether choosing from the full Math Strategy List or from a smaller list identified by the coach, the teacher makes the final decision on which strategy to implement. Once the strategy is chosen, the coach and teacher explore it together to help the teacher feel comfortable and prepared to implement it in the classroom.

Math Strategy List
Each strategy document within the list includes: a strategy overview, examples and resources, connections to technology, connections to conceptual understanding and formative assessment, considerations for a supportive learning environment, notes of wisdom, suggestions for data to monitor progress, and a checklist for implementation.

The teacher’s chosen strategy can be enhanced with the use of technology. In addition to the technology section of the strategy document, the Technology Selection Guide is designed to help school leaders, coaches, and teachers assess the potential of a given technology tool to promote mathematical conceptual understanding for students or support teachers in conducting formative assessment.

Technology Selection Guide
Coaches and teachers can use the questions in this guide as they research and select a technology tool to use when implementing the strategy. School and district leaders can also use the guide to inform decisions about which technology tools to promote in their district.

Data helps teachers see progress as they implement the strategy in the classroom. Ultimately, the end goal is to increase student mathematics proficiency, especially for focus students. Student progress data helps teachers see whether student mathematics proficiency is improving. Coaches also collect strategy implementation data to help teachers assess and improve their implementation of the strategy.

Data Collection Guide
This resource offers guidance on how to determine what kinds of data the coach and teacher can collect in order to see progress toward the goal.