Grant Title: Mathematics Discourse in Secondary Classrooms (M-DISC): A Case-Based Professional Development Curriculum

Michelle Cirillo will be collaborating with Beth Herbel-Eisenmann and Michael Steele at Michigan State University on a five-year NSF funded study.

The purpose of the proposed project is to develop, design, and test innovative materials to assist professional development leaders to support secondary mathematics teachers in negotiating classroom norms that promote productive discourse practices. More specifically, the materials will help professional development leaders: a) increase mathematics teachers' awareness of the discourse patterns at work in their own classrooms; c) assist secondary mathematics teachers in identifying the discourse patterns that could be used more purposefully to support student learning; and d) support teachers in more purposefully negotiating classroom discourse patterns that can help students develop increasingly complex discourse practices involving high-level mathematical explanation, justification, and argumentation. The M-DISC project has the potential to have a broad impact on mathematics education because unless teachers become more purposeful about their classroom discourse, they will continue to undermine some of the intended goals they have for their students.

Article created: September 16, 2009