Talk is the Ticket to Teaching Math to English Learners

Publications

This article describes a mathematics professional development program for elementary school teachers focused on improving mathematics discourse for all students, in particular emergent multilingual learners. Frameworks, such as the Math Discourse Matrix (Sztajn, Heck, & Malzahn, 2020) that characterizes four types of discourse (correcting, eliciting, probing, responsive) and other resources aimed at planning and implementing lessons that support emergent multilingual learners' engagement in productive mathematical discussions are shared.

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Decomposing Practice in Teacher Professional Development: Examining sequences of learning activities

Publications

In this paper, we engage in an analysis of professional development design, examining professional development activities and the sequencing of professional learning tasks. We use a theoretical framework typically used in pre-service teacher education to understand the design of one professional development program. Our overarching goal is to theorize about how to design professional development and sequence professional learning tasks for practicing teachers. Specifically, this study uses the concepts of decompositions of practice (Grossman et al., 2009), and levels of decomposition (Boerst

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Controlled Implementations: Teaching Practice to Practicing Mathematics Teachers

Publications
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In this chapter, we use the Framework for Teaching Practice (Grossman, Compton, Igra, Ronfeldt, Shahan, & Williamson, 2009) as a conceptual tool for analyzing the design of professional development. Although initially developed to examine the education of prospective teachers, we contend that this framework is appropriate for analyzing and supporting the design of professional development. The framework consists of three elements: decompositions, representations, and approximations of practice. We use these three elements to examine the literature on professional development and discuss how

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Activating Math Talk: 11 Purposeful Techniques for Your Elementary Students

Publications
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Many mathematics teachers agree that engaging students in high-quality discourse is important for their conceptual learning, but successfully promoting such discourse in elementary classrooms—with attention to the needs of every learner—can be a challenge. Activating Math Talk tackles this challenge by bringing practical, math-specific, productive discourse techniques that are applicable to any lesson or curriculum. Framed around 11 student-centered discourse techniques, this research-based book connects purposeful instructional techniques to specific lesson goals and includes a focus on

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REL Northeast & Islands Webinar: Evaluating Professional Learning: Introduction to a Tool for Schools and Districts

Event

This workshop will introduce state, district, and school leaders to a new tool to assist in evaluating their professional learning initiatives. The workshop will present Evaluating Professional Learning: A Tool for Schools and Districts and provide suggestions for getting started. A practitioner from Connecticut will also share about lessons learned using the tool. Following the workshop, office hours will be available for participants who need additional support in getting started.

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Uncharted WATERS: Sustaining a Meaningful Student Teaching Experience Amidst a Global Pandemic via an Online STEM Curriculum

Publications

Field experience is the culminating experience for pre-service teacher training. As COVID-19 closed schools across the country, pre-service teachers’ field experiences were disrupted. This case study examines how a student teacher, a team of mentor teachers, and a university supervisor at a regional public university adapted to remote learning. The findings suggest that there were gains and losses in terms of the pre-service teachers’ ability to develop essential skills; classroom management skills suffered while formative assessment practices, innovative lesson delivery, and reflection on

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Boston College Master’s Program in Learning Engineering is Seeking Applicants

News

STELAR is happy to share the following opportunity from our colleagues at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Please share with your networks! M.A in Learning EngineeringInterdisciplinary, experiential, and forward-thinking, the Master of Arts in Learning Engineering program at Boston College prepares students to design engaging learning experiences that are informed by the learning sciences and incorporate cutting

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Scaling Professional Development: Preparing Professional Learning and Development Providers to Lead Power of Data Teacher Workshops.

Publications

This design-based research study examined the first two cycles of development, enactment, analysis, and redesign of the Power of Data (POD) Facilitation Academy. Professional Learning and Development (PLD) providers’ geospatial technology (GST) skills, understanding of programme principles, preparation, and stages of concern for implementing POD Teacher Workshops were investigated. The POD Team analysed previous POD PLD models. Using these results, the POD Academy and Guide were developed, enacted, and revised. Two cohorts (n = 28) participated in the POD FA designed to prepare PLD providers

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