Exploring the Impact of COVID on an Ambitious Mathematics Program in High-Poverty Context

• In Event: Allowing Culture to Lead in Spaces of Professional Development and Practice

Abstract

We explored the impact of online instruction imposed by COVID 19 on a previously stable implementation of an ambitious mathematics program in a high-poverty context. We used a demand-resource framework to test the conjecture that if demands of an ambitious reform are not adequately addressed, then that reform will falter. The demands placed upon students included demands associated with the ambitious mathematics program - including linguistic, cognitive, and participatory demands - as well as those induced by moving to purely online instruction and by living in a high-poverty context during a pandemic. We found that teachers strived to identify and address these demands by developing new instructional routines, using technology to make lessons interactive, and creatively incorporating new means of participation

Authors

• Jeffrey M. Choppin, University of Rochester

• Gena Merliss, University of Rochester