Dive Brief:

• To ease the transition to Common Core, some California districts are putting instructional coaches in classrooms to help teachers modify their lessons for the new standards.
• According to EdSource, instructional coaches have been present in classrooms before but were typically cut from staffs during the recession. Now that the economy is on an upswing and standards are changing, these positions are returning in many schools.
• An EdSource survey of six California districts found that all were using instructional coaches for the Common Core.

Dive Insight:

While schools should be wary of consultants who promise to do things they could often do on their own, the idea of another individual — essentially a Common Core aid — helping out in a classroom setting to help meet the needs of students is promising. While EdSurge did find six districts using this tactic, that doesn't necessarily prove it as a full-fledged trend. It will be interesting to see if this catches on in coming years as states deal with the ins and outs of new standards.