Evaluation of Instructional Coaching for Tech-Enhanced Approaches to Mathematics (iCoachTEAM)

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SRI is studying the implementation and impact of iCoachTEAM on middle school math teachers’ use of technology to support conceptual understanding and conduct formative assessment.

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SRI partnered with Digital Promise to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its Instructional Coaching for Tech-Enhanced Approaches to Mathematics (iCoachTEAM) under a federal Education Innovation and Research (EIR) early-phase grant.

iCoachTEAM trained district- and school-based instructional coaches to support middle school math teachers to use technology to support students’ conceptual understanding and to conduct formative assessment. The study examined the implementation and impact of iCoach TEAM in four districts that received support in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

Our work

Using a quasi-experimental design, SRI measured student achievement outcomes on state standardized tests after 1 and 2 years of iCoachTEAM implementation. The team assessed the effect of iCoachTEAM on teachers’ instructional effectiveness as measured by an observation tool developed by Digital Promise and the Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching.

To understand implementation and whether the model was implemented with fidelity, SRI surveyed teachers and coaches annually, analyzed annual coaching program data collected by Digital Promise, and conducted interviews with teachers, coaches, principals and district-level stakeholders in each district.

The study found that integrating technology into math instruction for the purposes of conceptual understanding and formative assessment is quite complex and challenging. Coaches need sufficient support to become acquainted with and comfortable using the technology before they can coach teachers on its use. For their part, teachers need time to learn how to use these tools in new ways and a clear understanding for how these tools can push their instruction in deep and meaningful ways for students.

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Associated fields of research