Contract for services to a Mississippi educator to provide instruction to local school districts. The purpose of the program is to improve education in mathematics for students in grades K-6. The successful applicant will be expected to provide services and resources to local educators to improve math instruction, fluency, and application.

The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), through the Academic Education Office, is seeking competitive Request for Applications (RFA) from qualified applicants for a Mathematics Instructional Coach – Educator in Residence (herein referred to as “Math Coaches”). Math Coaches will provide job-embedded, coaching services to participating K-6 public school districts throughout the state of Mississippi. Math Coaches will provide appropriate services to schools so that there can be a cohesive, sustained, intensive and classroom-focused approach that is rigorous, engaging, and relevant for students. Math Coaches will be responsible for effectively identifying the needs of assigned teachers and schools in order to prioritize, schedule, organize, and provide technical assistance. Individuals selected as Math Coaches are expected to adhere to the MDE Coaching Model and work collaboratively with local and state-level math academic staff to strengthen their math instruction and impact student achievement. 

Mirroring the MDE Strategic Goals One (1) and Four (4), the objective of the Math Coach is to provide and ensure all students are proficient and showing growth in all assessed areas and to ensure that every school has effective teachers and leaders.

The Program’s goals and objectives are to: 

• Work with the MDE, through the Academic Education Office, to prioritize, schedule, organize, and to provide technical assistance to teachers and administrators on evidence-based numeracy and mathematics strategies; 
• Advocate and demonstrate the effective use of manipulatives in the mathematics classroom to support conceptual understanding;
• Work collaboratively with local and state-wide coaching staff to ensure alignment of services;
• Provide appropriate coaching and professional development services that address numeracy and mathematical deficiencies in assigned schools to ensure that there is cohesive, sustained, intensive and classroom-focused professional development and coaching that is rigorous, engaging, and aligned to the Mississippi College and Career-Readiness Standards for Mathematics and the Standards for Mathematical Practice;
• Develop non-threatening, open, professional, and collaborative work relationships with district-level school personnel, local-level curriculum and/or math instructional leaders and coaches, principals, and teachers; and 
• Effectively identify the mathematics instructional needs of assigned schools and teachers to prioritize, schedule, organize, and provide technical assistance to teachers to help accelerate student learning and increase grade-level mathematics outcomes for students.