Developing Equity-Centered Mathematics Practice: The Role of Facilitator Variability in Teacher Professional Learning

• In Event: Centering Equity & Agency in Teacher Learning: Innovations & Tensions in Professional Development Across Contexts

Abstract

Mathematics education possesses an exclusionary culture that disproportionately impacts marginalized groups. Teachers who adopt culturally sustaining and inclusive practices tend to achieve greater success with such students, but a false belief in mathematics as culture- and value-free has stifled progress toward equity. While professional development (PD) can support teacher growth in equitable practice, success of these efforts is inconsistent. Little is known about how facilitators’ self-efficacy for equity-centered teaching (ECT) influences the extent to which equity is centered during PD. Employing a convergent mixed-methods design, I examined how facilitator variability related to ECT connected to PD experiences. These findings may support districts with approaches to hiring and developing facilitators to ensure equitable practices are at the center of mathematics PD.

Author

• Rachel Saperstein McClam, Johns Hopkins University