Math Out Loud

Supporting teacher noticing in multilingual math classrooms

Effective mathematics teaching relies on teachers' ability to notice—to attend to, interpret, and respond to student thinking. In multilingual classrooms, this essential practice becomes more complex as teachers work to understand mathematical reasoning expressed across multiple languages and communication styles.

This research project develops new methods to support teacher noticing in multilingual mathematics classrooms. Through analysis of 1,100 classroom sessions, we are studying how to detect the diverse ways students use their existing language toolkits for mathematical purposes such as communicating sense-making, building on each others’ ideas, and sharing reasoning. Our research focuses particularly on mathematical discourse that might otherwise go unnoticed, helping teachers recognize and build upon the rich and varied mathematical thinking present in their classrooms.

By combining educational theory with computational methods, this project aims to enhance teachers' capacity to notice and respond to student thinking. The research will produce measures, tools and frameworks that help teachers better understand the mathematical discourse happening in their classrooms, ultimately supporting more responsive and inclusive mathematics instruction for multilingual learners.