The Problem of Words: Learning to Teach Mathematics When Numbers and Languages Mix

In this piece I propose a perspective shift, from a simplified view of mathematics story problems to a more academically rigorous perspective that integrates mathematical proficiency and language practices crucial for educating bilingual students. The data presented in this article provide a window into what preparing bilingual pre-service teachers to teach mathematics might involve. I discuss issues that arise in the context of preparing Spanish-English bilingual pre-service teachers in a way that can inform their practice in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms

An exploratory study of teacher retention using data mining

textThe object of this investigation is to report a study of mathematics teacher retention in the Texas Education System by generating a model that allows the identification of crucial factors that are associated with teacher retention in their profession. This study answers the research question: given a new mathematics teacher with little or no service in the Texas Education System, how long might one expect her to remain in the system? The basic categories, used in this study to describe teacher retention are: long term (10 and more years of service), medium term (5 to 9 years of service), and short term (1 to 4 years of service). The research question is addressed by generating a model through data mining techniques and using teacher data and variables from the Texas Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) that allows a descriptive identification of those factors that are crucial in teacher retention. Research on mathematics teacher turnover in Texas has not yet focused on teacher characteristics. The literature review presented in this investigation shows that teacher characteristics are important in studying factors that may influence teachers' decisions to stay or to leave the system. This study presents the field of education, and the state of Texas, with an opportunity to isolate those crucial factors that keep mathematics teachers from leaving the teaching profession, which has the potential to inform policy makers and other educators when making decisions that could have an impact on teacher retention. Also, the methodology applied, data mining, allows this study to take full advantage of a collection of valuable resources provided by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), which has not yet been used to study the phenomenon of teacher retention.Science and Mathematics Educatio

Language and Mathematics: Questioning Strategies in a Dual Language Bilingual Education Classroom

This study presents an emerging framework of teaching moves for teaching mathematics in a DLBE classroom. Our preliminary findings indicate how the teacher in our study uses language during mathematics instruction to a) support the development of conceptual understanding, b) create opportunities for cross-linguistic connections, and c) create opportunities to support bilingual students’ linguistic and mathematical understanding

Flowing With the Translanguaging Corriente: Juntos Engaging With and Making Sense of Mathematics

The translanguaging corriente, or current of language practices, as described by García et al. (2017), is always flowing through your mathematics classroom, whether you realize it or not. The corriente, how multilinguals use all their languages to learn and engage with content in school and make sense of a complex world, requires educators to reconsider what is understood about language and mathematics. By rethinking how we view language separation in the multilingual mathematics classroom, we propose that teachers teach with a translanguaging stance in order to access multilingual students’ full linguistic repertoires and to develop deep mathematical understanding

Preparing Bilingual Pre-Service Teachers to Foster Equitable and Open Communication With Latinx Immigrant Parents en la Enseñanza de Matemáticas

We examine how bilingual pre-service teachers developed a practice of communicating to parents their children’s mathematical thinking and how the teachers invited parents to participate in instructional practices in the mathematics classroom. We argue that these practices are knowledge-intensive, in that bilingual pre-service teachers draw on both their knowledge of children’s mathematical thinking and their own experiences as bilingual students, and that communicating this to parents reflects this knowledge. We conceptualize this knowledge as situated in, and integrated with, the practice of teaching. We therefore consider it necessary to support the development of this knowledge early in pre-service teacher education

Developing Awareness Around Language Practices in the Elementary Bilingual Mathematics Classroom

This study contributes to efforts to characterize teaching that is responsive to children’s mathematical ideas and linguistic repertoire. Building on translanguaging, defined in this article as a pedagogical practice that facilitates students’ expression of their understanding using their own language practices, and on the literature surrounding children’s mathematical thinking, we present an example of a one-on-one interview and of the circulating portion of a mathematics class from a second grade classroom. We use these examples to foreground instructional practices, for researchers and practitioners, that highlight a shift from a simplified view of conveying mathematics as instruction in symbology and formal manipulation to a more academically ample discussion of perspectives that investigate critically both mathematical concepts and their modes of transmission, which involve language practices, that are crucial for educating bilingual children

Characterization of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) isolated from pigs and sheep

BACKGROUND: Attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) are characterized by their ability to cause attaching-and-effacing (A/E) lesions in the gut mucosa of human and animal hosts leading to diarrhoea. The genetic determinants for the production of A/E lesions are located on the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), a pathogenicity island that also contains the genes encoding intimin (eae). This study reports data on the occurrence of eae positive E. coli carried by healthy pigs and sheep at the point of slaughter, and on serotypes, intimin variants, and further virulence factors of isolated AEEC strains. RESULTS: Faecal samples from 198 finished pigs and 279 sheep were examined at slaughter. The proportion of eae positive samples was 89% for pigs and 55% for sheep. By colony dot-blot hybridization, AEEC were isolated from 50 and 53 randomly selected porcine and ovine samples and further characterized. Strains of the serotypes O2:H40, O3:H8 and O26:H11 were found in both pigs and sheep. In pigs O2:H40, O2:H49, O108:H9, O145:H28 and in sheep O2:H40, O26:H11, O70:H40, O146:H21 were the most prevalent serotypes among typable strains. Eleven different intimin types were detected, whereas gamma2/theta was the most frequent, followed by beta1, epsilon and gamma1. All but two ovine strains tested negative for the genes encoding Shiga toxins. All strains tested negative for the bfpA gene and the EAF plasmid. EAST1 (astA) was present in 18 of the isolated strains. CONCLUSION: Our data show that pigs and sheep are a source of serologically and genetically diverse intimin-harbouring E. coli strains. Most of the strains show characteristics of atypical enteropathogenic E. coli. Nevertheless, there are stx-negative AEEC strains belonging to serotypes and intimin types that are associated with classical enterohaemorrhagic E. coli strains (O26:H11, beta1; O145:H28, gamma1)

The Landscape of US Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education: Course Requirements for Mathematics Content and Methods

The adequate preparation of future teachers of mathematics is critical, requiring sufficient opportunities to develop both pedagogical skill and content knowledge. Yet, despite new recommendations for mathematics teacher preparation, we know little about the landscape of course-based learning opportunities in US elementary teacher education programs. To what extent do US elementary teacher education programs meet the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics outlined by the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) for mathematics content and methods courses? Based on an a priori power analysis, we gathered a random sample of 291 higher education institutions. Within these institutions, we analyzed 736 programs, including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Credential programs. We found that overwhelmingly US elementary teacher education programs do not meet the aspirations outlined in the AMTE standards, with Master’s and Credential programs and those covering all elementary grades particularly falling short. Potential explanations for these challenges and implications for teacher education program design are discussed

The Mo(ve)ment to Prioritize Antiracist Mathematics: Planning for This and Every School Year

Dear Colleague, TODOS: Mathematics for ALL is proud of its almost two decades of advocacy for equity and excellence for all children in mathematics education, specifically Latina/o children. Over the years, TODOS has delivered webinars, podcasts, blogs, conferences, and resources for educators, families, and children to address and provide tools to eliminate the harmful practices too many children and families experience in school and in life. This position statement, The Mo(ve)ment to Prioritize Antiracist Mathematics: Planning for This and Every School Year, and supporting commentaries, including one commentary in Spanish - place the essential actions of the 2016 NCSM - TODOS joint social justice position statement, Mathematics Education Through the Lens of Social Justice: Acknowledgment, Actions, and Accountability, into new contexts as a response to our nation\u27s inequities and injustices made visible by COVID-19 and the tragic murders of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, and other unarmed Black and Brown citizens. No longer could a focus on curriculum, assessment, and instruction alone be enough for children to survive in today\u27s world. It was time to step up, find strength, move beyond hurt, fear, and usual conversations to take leadership in the fight for antiracism..

To align or not to align? Research methods and its relationship with dissertation marks across sport undergraduate degree programmes within a UK-based HE institution

Much research has referred to the complexity of research methods modules within undergraduate degree programmes. Less attention has been paid to the objective understanding of alignment between research methods and final year dissertations. This study explored relationships across Sport and Exercise Science (SES) and Sports Therapy (ST) programmes within a UK-based Higher Education institution. Analysis revealed females (N=73) outperformed males (N=117) at Levels 4/5, and SES students outperformed ST at Level 6. The Level 5 statistics assessment explained the lowest variance in the dissertation, suggesting poor alignment in curriculum design. Future research should consider the efficacy of statistics-based modules