In partnership with district leaders, we developed a practical measure that provides information about how math lab facilitators, teachers, and students think about and address mathematical goals during Math Labs. The data captured by the practical measure informs how the district leaders plan for and deliver support for coaches and teachers. In addition, the practical measure data provide student talk samples that coaches and teachers use immediately during the Math Labs to assess student understanding, reflect on the outcomes of teachers’ instructional decisions, and revise instructional plans for the following lesson.
Our practical measure consists of two interrelated components: a script of student and teacher classroom talk, and a process for data collection and reflection. The script and the data collection and reflection process both align with the existing structure of math labs. To complete the practical measure, one participant acts as a scribe, scripting student and teacher talk during the classroom visit portions of the Math Lab. The coach and teachers then examine the script(s) as part of the process of reflection and altering the lesson plan for the next classroom visit. The scripter captures the highlights of the reflection conversation, creating a record of what the educators learned by looking more closely at student mathematical discourse related to the math goal. Coaches and district leaders use the records of both the in-classroom talk and the reflection and learning by the educators to consider how to support coach and teacher learning.
We sometimes call this our "impractical measure" because, while it provides us with a lot of useful information, it takes a lot of time and resources to collect and analyze.
We encourage you to try out our tool in your own organization and let us know how you used and/or adapted it. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Shar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.