Journal of Education & Social Policy

Teacher Perception of the Role and Impact of Mathematics Instructional Coaches in Their Classrooms
Kami L. Reece, Ph.D; Linda D. Grooms, Ph.D

Abstract
For more than 80 years, mathematics education has experienced numerous reforms ultimately resulting in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s implementation of Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments at all grade levels. One county’s response to this high-stakes testing was the addition of Mathematics Instructional Coaches (MICs). Surveying 200 K-12 teachers to determine which MIC category of roles they perceived had the most impact in their classrooms--relationship, curriculum, or pedagogy--a standard multiple regression revealed statistical significance(3,27) = 18.64, p < .01 in two of the three roles. The MIC categories of curriculum (B =.49, p < .01) and pedagogy (B =.35, p = .04) were found to significantly impact teacher perception, and while literature espoused interpersonal relationship higher in importance, this study found it not statistically significant (B =.09, p = .52). Acknowledging limited generalizability, several implications for administrators, MICs, and classroom teachers emerged.

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