Collaborative Research: Examining the Longitudinal Development of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Equitable Noticing of Children’s Mathematical Thinking

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Preparing teachers to create equitable mathematics classrooms is an ongoing challenge for teacher education. This begins with helping teachers focus on children's strengths and identities as mathematics learners. Then, teachers need to be able to respond to children's experiences, knowledge, and mathematical reasoning when planning and teaching. This is particularly important for groups that have been historically marginalized in mathematics (e.g., Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian American Pacific Islander). Teachers also need to consider how they can create change in their schools and districts for equitable mathematics teaching and learning. There is a need for resources for teacher education programs to help pre-service teachers learn about equitable mathematics approaches to teaching and learning. The project will also develop modules, resources, and tools for exploring how teachers' understanding of equity changes from their last year of the preparation program into their first year of teaching. The tools and resources can be shared with other teacher education programs. The project builds upon prior research about the use and development of micromodules to help preservice teachers develop positive attitudes towards mathematics, practice equitable noticing of mathematics and understand the sociopolitical influences on teaching and learning. An important component of equitable noticing is helping teachers recognize how children's identities, language and mathematical reasoning are central to learning. The research questions examine how instructional experiences for preservice teachers influence their equitable professional noticing and how teaching practices continue once they are first-year teachers. The longitudinal study uses an embedded mixed methods approach that collects data in mathematics teaching methods courses, student teaching and the first year of teaching. The research will incorporate the following data sources: an assessment suite called Multiple Assessments for Noticing Equitably (MANE), a video-based think-aloud protocol, semi-structured interviews, and other artifacts of the teacher education experience.This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) Program and the Discovery Research preK-12 Program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models, and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.