Unintended Consequences: Accommodating English Language Learners and Eliminating All Struggle

• In Event: Understanding the Implications of the Common Core Mathematical Practice Standards for English Learners: An Interactive Symposium

Abstract

Objectives
The authors of the CCSSM (2010a) addressed the application of the standards for English language learners (ELLs) stating the importance of effective teaching practices for supporting ELLs and stressing the importance of allowing students to interact with challenging mathematics as they engage in the MPs. In this study, I examined three ELL teachers’ practice to look at opportunities for students to engage in the first MP, making sense of problems and persevering in solving them.

Theoretical Framework
I build largely upon Henningsen and Stein’s (1997) notion of cognitive demand as a means of describing the impact the teachers’ support (or lack thereof) for students’ perseverance in problem solving had on the mathematics tasks. Cognitive demand refers to the type of thinking required to complete a mathematical task. Using this framework to examine the tasks the teachers selected allowed me to discuss how the classroom expectations related to making sense of problems and perseverance in solving them impacted the type of thinking around tasks.

Methods
I employed a qualitative, case study methodology (Stake, 1995) in examining data from three secondary mathematics teachers’ classrooms. Each of the teachers was ESOL certified, had six years of teaching experience, and taught a ninth grade integrated mathematics course comprised entirely of ELLs.

The primary data were two weeks of video-recorded classroom observations, daily planning interviews, and a final extended interview with each teacher. Field notes and classroom artifacts (student work and mathematics tasks) served as additional data sources. The data was analyzed using the constant comparison method decoupled from grounded theory.

Results & Significance
Each of the teachers discussed modifying their instruction for ELLs. In each case, these accommodations impacted students’ experiences engaging in the first MP. In order to address ELLs’ difficulties interpreting text, the teachers avoided problems with rich contexts and instead selected problems that were highly repetitive and devoid of language. These problems were low in cognitive demand and limited opportunities for students to “analyze givens, constraints, relationships, and goals” (CCSSM, 2010b, p. 6). Thus, the teachers’ selection of tasks in response to their perceptions of ELLs’ needs, limited students’ opportunities to engage in the first MP.

The teachers also routinely attempted to relieve students’ struggles with mathematics. This occurred in all instances, including those where students were engaged in productive struggle. For example, commonly, when a student asked a question the teacher responded by completing the problem for the student. These instances in which the teacher transferred the task’s cognitive demand from the student to him or herself resulted in students’ limited experiences in making sense of problems and persevering in solving them.

In this paper, it was the teachers’ attempts to accommodate their ELLs that resulted in limited opportunities for students to persevere in problem solving and experience productive struggle. This finding is particularly significant for those involved in the preparation and development of mathematics teachers, as they must help teachers change their perceptions and implement strategies that support ELLs in conjunction with the MPs.

Author

• Zandra de Araujo, University of Missouri