Our Story

The nation’s math teachers are charged with helping students uncover and make sense of the subject’s unique language. Math teachers know acutely how mathematical thinking, problem solving, and persevering can help students not only excel within the math classroom, but also help students tackle larger complex problems we face. Yet math teachers—even as trained and experienced professionals—face challenges particular to their discipline and often require specific supports to achieve the high quality instruction they hope to offer students.

“Generic rubrics are designed to be broad and sweeping, yet often these rubrics are difficult to apply in the math classroom,” explained Samantha Booth, MQI Associate Director. “Expressing a ‘need for student engagement,’ for example, doesn’t necessarily illustrate what that means in the context of math instruction.”

But in 2014, researchers at Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) discovered a way to bolster supports specific to math teachers and math instruction, almost by accident.

The team had been working with the Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI) rubric, a research tool developed to analyze mathematics instruction in several domains. The rubric created codes to break vague concepts like “student engagement” down into math-specific definitions and methods and identify what to look for in teachers’ instruction. In short, it offered a shared language to help teachers translate intentions into practice.

As a continuation of this work, the team began training raters to analyze and code videos of math instruction using the rubric’s particular language. As the raters— themselves active math teachers—became proficient at identifying qualities defined by the rubric, those same raters began to notice changes in their own practice. By knowing what to look for in the videos and how to talk about it, the raters began applying their insights to improve their own practice in their classrooms.

“The experience of the raters surprised us,” said Booth. “So we decided to more formally combine the MQI rubric with the use of teachers’ own video and one-on-one coaching to see if these things, together, could help teachers on their paths to growth.” In a randomized controlled study with 142 teachers, the team trained the raters to work alongside the teachers to help analyze and discuss videos of the subjects’ math instruction. The model worked, leading to improvements in the teachers’ practice.

After seeing the power of raters and teachers working in partnership to talk specifically about math instruction in a new way, the team developed MQI Coaching.

“Math is one of those subjects that’s often intimidating for students to learn, which can be challenging for a teacher,” noted fifth-grade teacher and MQI alumna Daphne Clement. Daphne, like many elementary school teachers, didn’t have a specific academic background in math and sometimes lacked confidence teaching the subject. “This is why having a math-specific way to think about my instruction was so helpful. I learned how to be more responsive to where my students were at and get them to think mathematically. There are so many ways to solve a problem, and I liked being able to incorporate those different ways of thinking in my classroom.”

MQI Coaching facilitates this shared language through video-based, virtual coaching cycles—and video use is a key facet of the program. “Video helps combine teacher reflection and direct coaching in real time, allowing them both to see and talk about the same things in an objective format,” offered Claire Gogolen, MQI Project Manager. Rather than taking a traditional evaluative approach, coaches guide teachers through their observations of the video and allow the teachers’ own insights to emerge. “When the teachers see themselves teaching,” continued Gogolen, “they notice things they aren’t aware of in the moment.” Because teachers can watch their lessons again during reflection, they open themselves to a powerful opportunity for growth.

Additionally, by discussing teaching practice one-on-one with a coach, teachers’ realizations are often self-generated. “Coaching conversations are driven by inquiry,” added long-time MQI Coach Christine Kuzdzal. “By and large, math teachers are eager to have someone to talk to about their instruction. And when teachers are the ones generating insights from those conversations, their action steps are more intrinsically motivated. It’s really powerful.”

By combining a new system of thinking and talking about math with the power of video for observation, teachers then work through insights and adjustments to their instruction incrementally.

“If you think about how athletes are coached,” said Becky Walker, Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Innovation at Howard Suamico School District in Wisconsin, “they pick a few skills to work on, then work on them over and over again. This is how they’re able to break down the complex game of, say, basketball into a number of actionable steps. This is what MQI does for math instruction. The rubric is big and comprehensive, yet rather than being overwhelming, it’s broken down bit by bit, leading to lasting change.”

Becky became involved with MQI while serving in a previous role of Director of Learning. While seeking supports for math teachers in a district without coaching resources, Becky found MQI and signed up to provide virtual coaching for the district’s math teachers. “It really changed their thinking around math learning and their practices in the classroom,” reflected Becky. “And it was cool to do it virtually because both the coach and the teacher relied on video footage of the lessons. This placed both the coach and the teacher on the same side of the observation, breaking the segment down together.”

This partnership model contrasts with the in-person evaluations teachers are used to from administrators and other evaluators. “When you’re evaluating in the classroom, you take as many notes as you can,” continued Becky Walker. “But in the end, you know the teacher is only going to see your interpretation of the lesson.” But when both coach and teacher watch a lesson together, in real-time, the lesson is slowed and broken down to reflect nuances in both the lesson and the students’ responses. And by using the MQI rubric, teachers know their goals for the lesson and what they were trying to accomplish and arrive at meaningful and actionable conclusions.

Perhaps most importantly, MQI Coaching is an effective, evidence-based approach to professional learning. It gives math teachers and coaches a shared language through which to analyze and discuss math instruction, offering math teachers the content-specific support they need to determine and implement their own pathways for growth.

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