Accessible Mathematics

Terc Inc, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Recent research shows that children with disabilities benefit greatly from deep involvement in mathematical thinking. Major mathematics education committees such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the National Research Council have emphasized the importance of high level mathematical thinking and reasoning for all students, especially those students with special needs who have not had access to this kind of mathematics. This project is based on the assumption that when students with disabilities engage in a variety of NCTM Standards-based activities that support their strengths, they can learn to think mathematically. Children with disabilities will learn to think about, strategize, and solve mathematical problems in the manner recommended by the NCTM Standards. To explore ways in which students with disabilities can be supported to successfully develop mathematical thinking, researchers at TERC will work collaboratively with a group of 12-16 teacher-researchers who are implementing an NCTM standards-based curriculum, grades 1-5. The teachers will be chosen in pairs of one mainstream classroom teacher and one special education teacher who work with the same students as they engage with standards-based mathematics curricula. The teacher pairs will work together to look closely at and find ways to improve the mathematical thinking of students with disabilities. All of the teachers will meet regularly in an action research group with TERC researchers during two years of the project. They will present and discuss episodes from their classrooms about teaching mathematics to children with disabilities, plan next steps in their investigations of students' learning, and document and disseminate the strategies that are successful in developing the mathematical understanding of students who have disabilities. In the last year of the project, teachers and TERC researchers together will write articles to disseminate their findings to other teachers. They will describe the ways in which the special education and classroom teachers work together to improve the mathematics learning of children with disabilities and will document successful strategies that other teachers can use. These research findings will be useful to teachers because they will be grounded in classroom practice. The work of this project will include: 1. Implementation of a teacher research group of classroom and special education teachers to develop their skills in planning and implementing classroom research and to report on and receive feedback on their own research. 2. Research by the teacher pairs to learn how particular students with disabilities learn mathematics best, and what is needed to support their learning. 3. Communication of this classroom-based body of research through publications, existing websites, and presentations to others-especially to other practitioners-in a way that helps others see more deeply into students' mathematical thinking. 4. Documentation and description of the collaboration among the special education and classroom teacher pairs in their schools to suggest approaches that can be used by others.