Balancing Obligations When Adapting Mathematics Curriculum Materials to Be Culturally Relevant

• In Event: The Teacher's Role in Mathematics Learning

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which teachers adapted curriculum materials to make them more culturally relevant and how they balanced other obligations when adapting tasks. The context was a high-need school that had implemented an ambitious mathematics program for over five years and that was responsive to student needs. We found that teachers adapted tasks to make them more appealing to students' lives, including using COVID and statistics regarding the number of African Americans killed by police. We found two other substantive obligations: one was attending to the reading demands of the texts and the other was attending to the state testing regime. Implications include that teachers attend to obligations that have more immediate and dire consequences.

Authors

• Saliha Al, University of Rochester
  Presenting Author

• Jeffrey M. Choppin, University of Rochester
  Presenting Author

• William C. Zahner, San Diego State University
  Presenting Author