EXAMINING POTENTIAL PITFALLS THAT HINDER PRODUCTIVE COACHING CONVERSATIONS

Instructional coaching is a popular approach for providing professional development to classroom teachers that can help to enhance their knowledge and use of effective teaching practices. A growing body of research on mathematics instructional coaching, and mathematics coaching in particular, suggests that coaches can both increase teacher self efficacy and use of research based instructional practices and potentially have a positive impact on student achievement (Campbell & Malkus, 2011; Ellington et al., 2017; Knapp, 2017). To help ensure the effective implementation of coaching initiatives, researchers continue to examine the types of coaching practices that are most effective at creating these shifts. This paper adds to the literature on some of the challenges that coaches face in their planning conversations with classroom teachers and provides insights into how coaches and other mathematics education leaders can engage in productive coaching conversations that can foster reform-oriented shifts in teacher practice.