Standard P.1. Knowing Students to Foster Positive Mathematics Identity

In addition to Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) knowing and recognizing students’ varied ways of thinking and reasoning about mathematics and engaging in the mathematical practices and processes (60) (see Mathematics Content Standards), these professionals know their students’ diverse mathematical competencies and cultural and linguistic backgrounds in order to be responsive and leverage them during instruction. EMSs also know their students' mathematical strengths, so they can focus on and build upon them. Grounded in this knowledge, EMSs aim to develop positive mathematics identities of students, and support their colleagues with seeing the value of deeply knowing students in order to foster positive mathematics identity.

P.1.a. Knowing students’ diversities and strengths to develop positive mathematics identity

In EMSs’ work with students, they know and value each student as an individual and plan intentional learning experiences that account for and leverage the diversity of students’ backgrounds and mathematical understandings (61). This diversity includes but is not limited to developmental variations, neurodiversity (62), disability, race/ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation, economic class, country of origin, culture, community, and interests. EMSs recognize that students’ mathematics identities need to be fostered, and knowledge of learners is a critical step for doing so in order to build upon students’ varying mathematical competencies as well as their community, culture, language, lived experiences, and interests. Positive mathematics identity allows students to see themselves as competent, confident, and capable knowers, doers, and sense makers of mathematics, which undergird strong agency as active participants in mathematics (63).

EMSs believe, and support teachers in developing beliefs, that each and every student is capable of learning mathematics through ambitious and equitable instruction. Coupled with these beliefs, in their work with students EMSs view all as mathematically brilliant, while accessing and building upon students’ prior knowledge and informal knowledge during instruction. Rather than emphasizing what students do not know or understand, EMSs have an asset-based lens to identify and leverage students’ existing understandings. All students have mathematical strengths, and EMSs focus on and teach to these strengths. They do this by noticing, naming, and documenting these strengths, and using these understandings to design instruction (64). By affirming and building upon mathematical strengths, students’ confidence in their mathematical abilities will flourish, developing their identity as mathematicians.

EMSs disrupt deficit-based thinking and views about mathematics learning and students, especially related to race/ethnicity, economic class, gender, culture, language, and ability. They also disrupt associated deficit-based practices such as labeling and sorting of students into ability-based groups and tracks based upon test scores (65). Further, when communicating with students, families, teachers, school administrators, and others, EMSs practice care in their language so asset-based views of students are expressed. EMSs support teachers in similarly having asset-based views and approaches to students and their learning as well as challenging spaces of marginalization.

Vignette P.1.a.

Supporting Grade-Level Team Collaborative Planning

EMS as Grade-Level Mathematics Coach: In my role as grade-level mathematics coach, I was supporting my 5th grade team as they were unpacking and planning their data unit. During the planning, the team started discussing the different types of graphs they would pull from already-created instructional resources to help students analyze data. Instead, I suggested that we start the unit by collecting data about students and their interests. The team talked about the different things their students were interested in and how questions about those interests could be answered and resulting data represented. One teacher shared that her students are obsessed with soccer, and we decided we could create a line plot of the number of goals scored by players on a soccer team each season. Another teacher suggested that the students could do something in class on which we could collect data. They suggested that we give the students some scrap paper and have them draw as many smiley faces as they could in 30 seconds. This led to a conversation about all the things students could do for 30 seconds to collect additional data (e.g., determine the number of words read, how many times they can write their name, the number of paper balls thrown into a box). Excited about the ways they were opening up the learning, another teacher added that students could decide on a way to represent the data and then teachers could use this as a way to revisit the standard forms of graphs they know and introduce others. I was thrilled the teachers decided to shift their focus of this unit to include student voice and choice based on their own interests and questions. I used this as an opportunity to point out how these changes can help to foster their students’ mathematics identities.

Relevant Indicators: C.5.a., P.1.a., P.2.a., P.3.d., L.2.a.

(60) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2020.(61) Aguirre et al., 2024; Chval et al., 2021; Gutiérrez, 2018; NCTM, 2021; Seda & Brown, 2021; Tan et al., 2019. (62) Lambert & Harriss, 2022.(63) Aguirre et al., 2024; NCTM, 2020.(64) Kobett & Karp, 2020.(65) National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics [NCSM], 2020; NCSM and TODOS, 2016; NCTM, 2020, 2023a.