Mathematics, the Common Core, and Language: Recommendations for Effective Mathematics Instruction for ELs Aligned with the Common Core

Judit Moschkovich, University of California, Santa Cruz
This presentation summarizes research-based recommendations for effective mathematics instruction for students who are bilingual, learning English, or developing literacy. The session (1) provides a short summary of research on effective mathematics instruction for ELs, (2) uses a classroom example to describe recommendations for mathematics instruction that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and connects mathematical content to language, and (3) provides time for small-group discussions of ways to implement these recommendations.


About the Presenter:
Judit Moschkovich, Professor, Mathematics Education, University of California, Santa Cruz
Judit Moschkovich’s research examines mathematical thinking and learning in three areas: algebraic thinking and student understanding of functions, mathematical discourse practices, and mathematics learners who are bilingual, learning English, and/or Latino/a. She is a founding partner of Understanding Language (http://ell.stanford.edu), an initiative focusing on language in subject-area learning and supporting English learners to meet the Common Core State Standards. She is a former mathematics instructor (SFSU, Upward Bound, UCSCYoPuedo). She was a lecturer at UC Berkeley and a researcher at the Institute for Research on Learning, collaborating with the MMAP (Middle School Mathematics through Applications) project. She worked at TERC collaborating with the ChecheKonnen project and serving as principal investigator on the National Science Foundation funded research project, Mathematical Discourse in Bilingual Settings: Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Two Languages. She was a co-principal investigator for the Center for Mathematics Education of Latinos/as (CEMELA), an NSF CLT (2004–2011). Moschkovich’s dissertation received the UC Presidential Grants for School Improvement Research Recognition Award. She was the recipient of a NAED/Spencer Post-Doctoral Fellowship (1995–1997). In 2007, CEMELA at UCSC was awarded the UCSC Chancellor’s Diversity Award. She served on the editorial panel for the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education and as chair for the AERA SIG-Research in Mathematics Education. She currently serves on the review board for the Journal of the Learning Sciences and on the International Program Committee of the International Council for Mathematics Instruction (ICMI) Study #21, Mathematics Education and Language Diversity. She received a BS in Physics from the University of Minnesota and her PhD from University of California, Berkeley, Department of Education in Mathematics Science and Technology (EMST).