Revolutionizing Math Instruction in Randolph County
Learn how one West Virginia county transformed its approach to math instruction—building a shared vision, energizing teachers, and centering students through MQI Coaching.
When Tammy Tucker started a new role as math-focused curriculum specialist after a long career as a teacher and principal, she wanted to focus on the quality of teaching as a key lever for supporting student success. She had big goals in mind for the teachers she worked with, yet she wasn’t yet sure how to get them there.
In her new position, she was supporting schools across Randolph County, West Virginia. Teachers there had long completed PDSA cycles—plan, do, study, act— reflecting: what bothers you about your classroom? What is your plan to fix it? But they weren’t moving forward enough. They were thinking in a silo, without any research or evidence-based plan to kickstart meaningful change in their classroom.
“I knew I wanted to coach my teachers, but I didn’t see what my purpose or vision was going to be,” she recalled.
That’s when she stumbled across MQI Coaching. After reading about MQI, she dipped a toe into its offerings through a few free webinars. Then she dove a little deeper, attending MQI Coaching’s Summer Institute, which helps coaches understand and implement the MQI coaching model with their teachers. Suddenly, things were becoming clearer. “[The MQI rubric] gave us this amazing vision,” she said.
She made a commitment to bring the MQI model to her district, implementing video-based coaching cycles using the Mathematical Quality of Instruction rubric to elevate teachers’ instruction through evidence-based practices.
Soon, Tucker and a team of 35 teachers at nine schools were moving forward with the MQI process and began noticing big changes.
A Unified Vision for the District
Much of the MQI rubric focuses on getting the students, as opposed to the teacher, “doing” the mathematics of the lesson—engaging in mathematical thinking and reasoning, communicating about mathematics, and solving high-cognitive demand tasks and contextualized problems.
As teachers began to focus on their first MQI rubric code, which involved moving the lesson forward by listening to and building on student ideas, Tucker noticed an increase of time for student talk across the district. Teachers began to provide more space for students to share their thoughts and learned to listen more closely to student contributions so that they could weave student mathematical ideas into the fabric of the lesson.
Before, teachers were often the center of attention, with classes shaped around lectures and worksheets. Even the classroom seating reflected the order of things—students sat in rows facing the front. But as buy-in for the MQI rubric grew, many teachers changed their configurations, seating students in groups that allowed for discussion and problem-solving.
One teacher reflected, “The MQI rubrics have made me more aware of what is happening in the classroom. I am actively looking for examples of students questioning mathematical processes. When we worked on vocabulary, I started to focus on whether students were using the language, not just me using it.”
The MQI rubrics have made me more aware of what is happening in the classroom. I am actively looking for examples of students questioning mathematical processes. When we worked on vocabulary, I started to focus on whether students were using the language, not just me using it.
Other teachers also began asking students to clarify and expand on their own ideas and the ideas of others, and for the first time, full group instruction was focused on students as much as or more than the teacher. The classroom had become student-centered.
Creating a Culture Change
The differences were making themselves clear to teachers and students alike. Teachers regularly administered check-in assessments in their classrooms. After teachers began prioritizing instructional practices based on MQI rubric codes, not only were students performing better, they were also rating their emotions toward mathematics more positively.
Slowly, teachers were also building collective efficacy—realizing that “what we do minute by minute as teachers matters,” Tucker shared, which was another key goal of her professional development program.
The revelation that MQI could impact students and teachers in this way was unexpected—as Tucker reflected, “We didn’t know MQI was going to take us in this direction.” But instead of feeling overwhelmed by the changes and giving up, as she at times feared they might, she and the teachers quickly found themselves embracing the evidence-based practices of the MQI rubric as they saw them work in practice.
The shared language of the rubric also helped teachers organize their thinking and learn from one another. “They’d watch each other’s videos and go, ‘Oh, what a good idea. I’m going to try that!’ Even if it was a kindergarten teacher and a 7th grade teacher, they still found ways to learn from each other,” Tucker remembered.
They’d watch each other’s videos and go, ‘Oh, what a good idea. I’m going to try that!’ Even if it was a kindergarten teacher and a 7th grade teacher, they still found ways to learn from each other.
They didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, either. “Whatever you’re already doing in your district, you can integrate with MQI,” Tucker shared. “That’s what you should do.”
Over time, teachers saw that the rubric codes were interconnected. They built on one another, so that progress in one area led to progress in others, until the model evolved over the years from a pilot program into a permanent part of the district’s culture.
A Lasting Legacy
Tucker has an ELA certification, and soon, her elementary school teachers began asking if they could use the skills they were learning in their math instruction in other classes, too. Even middle school ELA teachers wanted to get in on the action. The MQI rubric is math-specific, but many of the practices and strategies translated to other subjects, from using subject matter vocabulary to asking students to engage with one another and take on the intellectual work of learning.
Across the district, teachers were being re-energized to pay attention to their instructional practices, to center students, and to pay attention to the richness of their subject matter.
“The principals noticed… these teachers were different,” Tucker said. As she saw it, the teachers were “becoming a team of mathematicians” that could discuss data and change in their classrooms. At multiple levels—individual, school, district—there had been a sea change.
The principals noticed these teachers were different, Tucker said. As she saw it, the teachers were 'becoming a team of mathematicians' that could discuss data and change in their classrooms. At multiple levels—individual, school, district—there had been a sea change.
Tucker is retiring soon—the grant that funded her three-year initiative is ending, and she will no longer be present to champion the changes she introduced. Yet the future of mathematics instruction in Randolph County looks promising.
In an exit survey, teachers reflected on all the ways they still embed MQI codes in their instruction, years after being introduced to them. Her teachers plan to continue meeting as a team once a week, providing a space where they can focus on MQI codes together and ensure they remain embedded in their instruction.
As one said, “As teachers, we often look forward, since we are teaching lesson after lesson towards an end goal.” Looking backward is thus difficult, yet crucial. The MQI has helped them reflect on video of their past lessons to make incremental changes in their teaching that soon added up to a whole new picture for the county.
Connect with Tammy Tucker at Educators Learning Factory, where she is continuing her teacher development work part-time post-retirement.