The Importance of Mathematics Specialist Leaders

Enhancing the instructional skills of classroom teachers, increasing content knowledge in mathematics, building a community of peers where educators can find support—these are essential functions carried out by mathematics specialist leaders. Equally important is their role in being an advocate for change—change that will shift instructional approaches in achieving equitable math teaching and learning in schools. In advocating for change, mathematics specialist leaders draw on their knowledge of teaching practices, supported by evidence-based research and their real-world teaching experiences, that have been proven to be effective in increasing student success in mathematics.

As schools focus on addressing the significant learning loss caused by the COVID pandemic, the work of mathematics specialist leaders in K-12 schools is more important than ever. This is borne out by the results of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as “the Nation’s Report Card,” which provides reliable data used as a measure of student achievement and success across the country. The NAEP Report Card for 2022 (covering the height of the pandemic) showed that average mathematics scores for the nation declined by 5 points and 8 points for fourth and eighth graders, respectively, compared to scores in 2019 when the assessment was last made. Courtney Baker, academic program coordinator and associate professor in the Mathematics Specialist Leadership program within the School of Education at George Mason University, recently discussed the role of mathematics specialist leaders in ensuring that every student in K-12 schools is successful in learning math.

Mathematics specialist leaders focus on adopting research informed strategies that meet the learning needs of students.

A mathematics specialist leader may be tasked with determining what strategies will best meet the learning needs of students. Instead of relying on memorization of math formulas, optimal learning occurs when students develop an understanding of math concepts and use critical thinking when working through math problems. Mathematics specialist leaders can provide recommendations to teachers, school administrators, and decision-makers in state education agencies on research-informed approaches to instruction that are more student-centered and that will yield more success in the classroom as measured by increased student achievement. Individuals serving as mathematics specialist leaders collaborate with other educators and school leaders in designing professional development that will improve the pedagogical skills of classroom teachers so that they can make a connection with a larger number of students in their class leading to a deeper understanding of math.

Math coaches serve as mentors to classroom teachers.

A mathematics specialist leader can be a classroom teacher, math resource teacher, grade level leader, or math department chair in a school. Math specialist leaders can work in a specific school, or they may be assigned to several schools within the district or state. A position closely aligned with the mathematics specialist leader position is that of math coach. A math coach works individually with teachers in providing feedback designed to elevate the instructional methods used in the classroom. In large part, a math coach takes on the role of being a mentor to a classroom teacher. For example, a math coach may model a particular teaching practice that the classroom teacher can then use with their students. It is important to remember the math coach’s role is not to evaluate the teacher. Rather, the math coach’s function is to help educators improve their pedagogical skills and to make them better teachers. This, in turn, will improve teacher performance in the classroom and lead to increased student success in learning math. In addition to working one on one with classroom teachers, the math coach may also collaborate with school or district administrators in recommending changes to mathematics curriculum in response to state requirements.

Mathematics specialist leaders and math coaches share a common goal of improving K-12 math education.

In some schools and school districts, the role of mathematics specialist leader and math coach are interchangeable and sometimes filled by the same individual. This requires handling a wide and varied range of responsibilities that could include partnering with individual teachers, teams of teachers, school leaders, district administrators, or all these constituents. Regardless of how their position is structured, mathematics specialist leaders and math coaches share a common goal—improving math education in K-12 schools and creating a school and content rich instructional environment where barriers to learning are removed, giving each student the opportunity to be successful. For example, a classroom teacher might place a student who is struggling with math into a lower-level math course sequence. This would deny the student the learning opportunity they would otherwise experience if allowed to remain in an upper-track and more challenging course sequence. A mathematics specialist leader or coach might work with that teacher and show them a teaching strategy that would enable the educator to help the student without moving them into an “easier” course sequence that would not be as content-rich and would result in the student learning less math.

The collaboration between mathematics specialist leaders, math coaches, and classroom teachers serves as the foundation for building a community of support where educators can find the resources that will help them enhance their math teaching skills.

To learn more about the Mathematics Specialist Leadership program in the School of Education at George Mason University, please visit the program website.