Alabama’s Bold Action: Turning the Tide with High-Quality Instructional Materials, Professional Learning, and Coaching

On the 2024 NAEP fourth grade math assessment, Alabama made the largest jump in the nation. How did they do this and what did they do? 

As a former high school science teacher, Dr. Eric Mackey saw firsthand how gaps in reading and math skills could hold students back. Many of his students were eager to learn science—but couldn’t access the material because they struggled to read complex texts or perform the math required in subjects like chemistry and physics. No matter how curious they were, reading and math proficiency became the gatekeepers to success.

So when Dr. Mackey interviewed to become Alabama’s next State Superintendent, he didn’t hesitate when asked about his vision for the state’s schools. His priorities were bold and immediate: rebuild the state’s reading program, fix the broken assessment system that left Alabama out of federal compliance, and—above all, he said, —“get math right.”

Dr. Mackey stepped into the role of State Superintendent in May 2018. His first priority: tackling the deep misalignment across Alabama’s academic standards, assessments, and support systems. 

Although the state’s math standards committee had already begun revising the standards, the process had stalled amid political tension and public skepticism around the Common Core. Rather than rushing through standards that lacked consensus, Governor Kay Ivey asked Dr. Mackey and his team to extend the revision process by another year and a half. The goal was to develop high-quality, Alabama-specific standards that reflected both national guidance from groups like the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and input from teachers and families.

As the state worked to strengthen what it expected students to learn, leaders also turned their attention to those responsible for teaching it. Improving math instruction meant rethinking how teachers are prepared before they enter the classroom. Dr. Mackey noted that many preparation programs required math courses that had little relevance to what future elementary teachers would actually teach, explaining that “some programs required two math courses—one might be college algebra and the other business finance—but if you’re teaching a first grader or a third grader about fractions, neither of those is going to help you.”

To address this gap, the state revised its teacher preparation requirements to ensure that all early childhood and elementary candidates complete four math content courses specifically focused on the knowledge and skills needed to teach math effectively.

While work was underway to strengthen standards and teacher preparation, the state also confronted the next major gap in aligning its systems: the state student assessment. The state developed a new summative assessment aligned to the revised math standards to measure end-of-year progress, along with a formative assessment system that gives teachers timely, actionable feedback on student learning throughout the school year.

With all of these key components aligned, the state turned its focus to coaching, curriculum, and professional learning. Rather than relying on one-off workshops or standalone professional development, which research shows are much less effective,¹ Alabama sought to embed math expertise directly into schools to expand teacher capacity by deploying full-time, in-house math coaches.

The decision to invest in stronger supports for educators came from a stark reality: Alabama’s students were struggling at unprecedented levels. On the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Alabama ranked dead last—52nd in the nation—for math achievement.² In 28 elementary schools across Alabama, not a single student was proficient in math. Statewide, only 22% of students demonstrated proficiency on the state math assessment. The numbers were even more alarming for students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds—just 7% of Black students (who make up a third of Alabama’s K–12 population) and 11% of low-income students met proficiency benchmarks. In cities like Birmingham, the math proficiency rate for Black students plummeted to 3.5%. 

Yet, even facing these student outcomes, state lawmakers approached major investments in math reforms like coaching and curriculum with understandable caution, wanting to ensure that any new initiative would deliver meaningful results. In response, Dr. Mackey and his team took a strategic detour, using federal funding to pilot a math coaching program that could demonstrate proof of concept.

Driven by the need to improve student outcomes, key legislators—Representative Alan Baker and Senator Arthur Orr—led the charge. They sought out national best practices and partnered with local experts to craft a landmark policy solution. Their efforts culminated in the passage of the Alabama Numeracy Act, which codified the coaching pilot and established a comprehensive structure for long-term improvement, including clear accountability and dedicated funding. 

The law introduced a suite of new requirements and supports aimed at improving math outcomes, particularly in the state’s lowest-performing schools. Key provisions included:

• Establishing the Office of Mathematics Improvement at the State Department of Education to drive progress in struggling schools.
• Creating an Elementary Math Task Force to vet instructional materials, professional learning opportunities, and assessments used to identify and support students who need extra help.
• Launching state-funded summer math programs for fourth and fifth graders in low-performing schools.
• Forming a postsecondary task force to ensure teacher preparation programs are preparing new elementary teachers to effectively teach mathematics.
• And a host of other improvements (see details here).

Additionally, the law expanded student and teacher access to math coaches dramatically by introducing a requirement to place at least one math coach in every K–5 school. Beginning in 2023, the law mandated that every public K–5 school with fewer than 800 students receive one math coach while schools with 800 or more students receive two. At a cost of roughly $90,000 in state funding per coach, the initiative represented a major financial commitment for the state. 

Funding is provided through the state education agency and passed directly to districts through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which stipulates that funds must be used exclusively for 10-month contracts for math coaches. The MOU makes clear that coaches are dedicated solely to supporting math instruction and may not be assigned any administrative duties.

To manage costs and support effective implementation, Alabama took a phased approach, prioritizing placing math coaches in the state’s lowest-performing schools, recognizing that trying to hire 900 math coaches at one time across the state may create a crisis in an already stretched-thin workforce. In the first year, the state placed approximately 250 coaches in schools with the greatest need. They added an additional 200 coaches in the second year, with another 200 expected in 2026, putting Alabama well on its way toward its goal of placing a math coach in every school.

The phased approach was a decision that Corinn O’Brien, vice president of policy for the A+ Education Partnership, believed was both strategic and necessary. “Some of these schools didn’t have an abundance of certified teachers,” she explained. “Had we pulled too many teachers out to serve as math coaches, we would have left a hole behind.”

Building a strong, sustainable pipeline of coaches has been a challenge. Currently the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI), housed within the Alabama Department of Education (ADE), is responsible for training every math coach in the state. While this centralized approach has provided consistency and oversight, the state is exploring options for expanding training providers to get more coaches into classrooms sooner. 

Beyond coaching, Alabama has continued to invest in high-quality instructional materials and professional learning—and, critically, has focused on bridging the gap between the two. State leaders realized that math teachers—especially at the elementary level—were receiving little to no professional learning in mathematics. At the same time, the lowest-performing schools were using the least rigorous curricula. Looking to Louisiana’s example, ADE saw an opportunity to further align professional learning directly to high-quality instructional materials. The idea was simple—strong curricula alone wouldn’t drive results unless teachers were supported in using them skillfully. Now a growing number of elementary schools have coaches who provide job-embedded, curriculum-aligned professional learning to sustain this work.

Like many states, Alabama has a long history of local control, which can make work like this challenging. Ms. O’Brien points to Mississippi and Tennessee as examples of states that have successfully balanced state-level oversight with local control—where the state department of education provides clear, coherent expectations while still allowing districts flexibility in how to meet them. Alabama is now looking to take a similar approach. By embedding key requirements for high-quality math instruction into state law, the state education agency is now responsible for establishing a clear framework that defines standards for instructional quality—such as identifying curricula that meet the needs of all students, including those who struggle with math, and curating a list of high-quality screening assessments. At the same time, schools and districts retain the ability to make critical decisions about how best to implement these practices in their local context.

The investment has already begun paying off. Since the passage of the Numeracy Act, every district in the state has adopted high-quality instructional materials. While the full academic impact of the law will take time to unfold, ADE’s long-term focus on alignment is likely a key driver behind the state’s skyrocketing test scores. On the 2024 NAEP fourth grade math assessment, Alabama made the largest jump in the nation, rising to 32nd overall. These gains have generated momentum and given state and district leaders a clearer vision for the road ahead.

With momentum on their side, state leaders are now focused on the next challenge—ensuring these gains aren’t just a moment but a lasting transformation.