What are the responsibilities and job description for the Math Coach position at Alabama State Department of Education?
Alabama Numeracy Act K-5 Building-Based Math Coach (BBMC)
Job Description 2023-2024
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (Alabama Numeracy Act, page 24):
1. Hold a valid Alabama professional educator certificate in early childhood education, elementary education, or special education.
2. Have a minimum of five years of experience as an early childhood, elementary, or special education teacher.
3. Demonstrate expertise, as attested by a current or former employing county or city superintendent of education, in mathematics instruction and intervention and early numeracy interventions, including dyscalculia interventions.
4. Hold a master's degree or have completed professional development recommended by the Elementary Mathematics Task Force, or both.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: A mathematics coach shall be employed by the local education agency with funds appropriated by the Legislature. Mathematics coaches shall be employed as 10-month employees (ANA page 23). The extra days beyond the nine-months shall be used to train teachers, develop units of instruction and materials to support instruction, as determined by school data, and receive professional learning. A mathematics coach shall prioritize coaching in mathematics and may not perform administrative duties, serve in administrative roles, serve as a substitute teacher, serve as a testing coordinator, serve as an interventionist, or perform other school duties not focused on coaching or the mathematics improvement of students during the instructional day (ANA page 27-28). Duties and responsibilities of building-based mathematics coaches shall include all the following:
1. Supporting the improvement of instruction with an emphasis on Tier 1 instruction to ensure students do not fall behind.
2. Collaborating with the school principal and faculty to establish and implement a strategic plan for coaching and mathematics instruction to improve student achievement in mathematics.
3. Facilitating schoolwide mathematics professional learning, including job-embedded assistance using coaching strategies, including joint preplanning, modeling lessons, co-teaching lessons, targeted observation to collect data, and debriefing.
4. Modeling evidence-based mathematics instructional and intervention strategies for teachers.
5. Continuously mentoring and coaching teachers.
6. Assisting teachers in using data to differentiate mathematics instruction and to identify students exhibiting the characteristics of dyscalculia and other exceptionalities.
7. Monitoring the progress of K-5 students in mathematics through benchmark formative assessments at least three times per year and making recommendations for modifying instruction based on the individual needs of students and trends in student data.
8. Focusing solely as a mathematics coach for schools with elementary grade students.
9. Collaborating with teachers and grade-level teams of teachers to foster the use of appropriate instructional materials, including concrete materials, necessary to ensure that students understand mathematical concepts.
10. Collaborating with grade-level teams to develop rigorous tasks, lessons, and assessments aligned with grade-level mathematics content standards; to facilitate the analysis of student work samples and assessment data; and to work in partnership with teachers to provide real-time feedback and make next-step instructional decisions based on the student evidence.
11. Assisting teachers in using formative assessments and analyzing student work to identify students with misconceptions, students exhibiting characteristics of dyscalculia, and students needing acceleration.
12. Assisting teachers in administering early numeracy screeners or diagnostic assessments, or both, in Grades K-2. The assistance of a mathematics coach may not exceed two hours per week.
13. Assisting teachers with administering fractional reasoning screeners or diagnostic assessments, or both, for students in grades four and five, subject to legislative appropriation. The assistance of a mathematics coach may not exceed two hours per week.
14. Advocating, planning, and coordinating opportunities, in conjunction with the principal, for school-based family and community engagement in mathematics.
15. Actively and cooperatively participating in any Office of Mathematics Improvement (OMI) regional coordinator and Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) regional mathematics specialist visits and professional learning to meet agreed upon personal outcomes and all school, district, and state established mathematics goals.
16. Engaging in ongoing learning opportunities to grow in knowledge. skills. and expertise in mathematics.
17. Facilitating the use of assessment data in all tiers of mathematics instruction to assist in making decisions that will move students to higher levels of performance in mathematics.
18. Planning or facilitating, or both, professional learning opportunities that will assist teachers in targeting student deficits; facilitate professional conversations; foster student engagement; assess student learning; reflect on professional practice; and identify next learning steps to achieve state, district, and school goals in mathematics.
19. Recording job duties and time spent with teachers on a state-specified electronic platform.
20. Supporting teachers in the authentic integration of computer science and computational thinking concepts within the mathematics classro
EVALUATION AND SUPPORT: Building-based mathematics coaches as designated by the ANA will be evaluated according to quantitative and qualitative data measures. Summative and formative student assessment data, surveys, and site visit reports will be used in determining ANA mathematics coaches’ effectiveness an d that of the overall program and process effectiveness. Support for ANA mathematics coaches will be provided by AMSTI Regional Specialists and monitored by OMI Regional Coordinators according to specifications outlined in the ANA.
SUPERVISOR SUPPORT: The district determines the supervision of the BBMC. AMSTI will provide support to the BBMC to deepen the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill the job description. The district and OMI staff will ensure—with this contract and by monitoring—adherence to this job description.