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Adapting Reform Ideas in Different Mathematics Classrooms: Beliefs Beyond Mathematics

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Abstract

The goals of this study are to understandelementary school teachers' beliefs andpractices and to unveil factors that influencethe way teachers adapt mathematics reformrhetoric when trying to adopt it. In theresearch, I searched for beliefs beyondmathematics that influence teachers' decisionsand choices for teaching mathematics. Workingwith children from different socioeconomicbackgrounds, teachers interpret reform indifferent ways. Based on their concept of students' needs, teachers select which partsof the reform documents are appropriate fortheir students. While children from uppersocioeconomic backgrounds experience problemsolving, those from lower socioeconomicbackgrounds undergo rote learning. Because notall children have the opportunity to learn thesame quality mathematics, the emerging concernof this study is the issue of equity inmathematics teaching.

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Sztajn, P. Adapting Reform Ideas in Different Mathematics Classrooms: Beliefs Beyond Mathematics. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 6, 53–75 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022171531285

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