RDE-DEI:Building an Inclusive Mathematics Community: Resources for Teachers

Terc Inc, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

In order to address the low achievement of some special education students, the goal of the proposed project is to disseminate the findings of the Accessible Mathematics project by producing professional development materials to help teachers improve the quality of mathematics teaching and learning in inclusive classrooms. The audience for these materials will be general education teachers, their special education colleagues and pre-service teacher candidates. The materials developed by the proposed project will illustrate and describe aspects of inclusive mathematics classrooms that help students with disabilities succeed. They will be flexibly designed as three 2-3 hour workshop modules. They will not be designed to provide simple answers, but to allow teachers to carefully consider the issues of inclusion. The module topics will be: 1) Organizing the Classroom and Instruction to Build Community, 2) Linking Assessment and Teaching, and 3) Making Mathematics Explicit. The videotapes, featuring teachers from Accessible Mathematics, will offer images of practices and will be focused on differentiating mathematics instruction. The written materials, some authored by teachers and others by TERC staff, including guidelines for workshop use, will help teachers reflect on their practice, offering them examples of successful strategies and approaches.