Paola Sztajn

Professional Title
Professor
Organization/Institution
About Me (Bio)
Paola Sztajn is a professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Elementary Education. She teachers mathematics methods courses for prospective and practicing teachers. Her research program focuses on practicing elementary teachers mathematics knowledge and professional development. The overarching question that guides Paola's research agenda is: in which ways do practicing elementary mathematics teachers acquire and continue to develop the knowledge needed to teach all students high quality mathematics? She is interested in collaborative studies that allow multi-faceted, in-depth investigations of this complex question.
North Carolina State University (NCSU)
08/01/2023

Leaders in mathematics and elementary education are organizing and hosting a conference that brings together researchers from mathematics education, cognitive science, and special education. Organized over three face-to-face meetings with follow-up virtual meetings, the conference is designed to generate a set of teaching and learning principles as well as a collaborative research agenda among the fields, reflecting existing agreements regarding early mathematics and uncovering areas of disagreement where further exchange and generation of knowledge is needed.

University of Missouri-Columbia
08/01/2014

This research investigates student mathematics learning outcomes at the elementary level in relation to teacher expertise (elementary teachers with math specialist certification versus generally prepared elementary teachers) and school organization (departmentalized versus self-contained mathematics classrooms). Findings will provide evidence of the impact of content-specific teacher expertise and a departmentalized school organizational model that offers students access to well-qualified teachers of mathematics with no additional staffing costs.

Florida State University (FSU)
08/01/2014

This project investigates the variation in teachers' practice of lesson study to identify effective and scalable design features of lesson study associated with student mathematics achievement growth in Florida. Lesson study is a teacher professional development model in which a group of teachers works collaboratively to plan a lesson, observe the lesson in a classroom with students, and analyze and discuss the student work and understanding in response to the lesson.

North Carolina State University (NCSU)
08/15/2010

This project is conducting a comprehensive study of professional development models designed for mathematics teachers in grades K-12. The research team will identify key constructs and frameworks within professional development programs and identify types of professional development models. The goals of the project are to encourage researchers and professional developers to reconceptualize mathematics professional development, develop a shared language, and renew discussions on effective professional development for teachers of mathematics.

North Carolina State University (NCSU)
09/01/2022

The project is designing a web-based, district-led professional development implementation, focusing on improving mathematics discourse practices in K-2 classrooms, with particular attention to emergent multilingual learners. Building on two prior NSF-funded projects, the All Included in Mathematics K-2 New Extensions professional learning program will develop and research the impact of an augmented model for mathematics professional development on K-2 student learning through the addition of supports for coaches and leaders to the existing professional development model.

North Carolina State University (NCSU)
08/01/2010

This project will adapt and study successful discourse strategies used during language arts instruction to help teachers promote mathematically-rich classroom discourse. Of special interest is the use of models to promote mathematics communication that includes English language learners (ELL) in mathematics discourse.The project will result in a full 40-hour professional development module to support mathematics discourse for Grade 2 teachers, with an emphasis on place value, multidigit addition and subtraction, and linear measurement.

North Carolina State University (NCSU)
03/01/2011

This project aims to pull together a diverse set of experts to make research-based recommendations on how to implement massive professional development that is needed to effectively employ the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in a way that will reform classroom instruction in mathematics for grades K-12.  The project is convening a meeting of experts to recommend how to design, implement, and assess large-scale professional development systems.

University of Texas, Austin
09/15/2013

This project addresses the growing need for research to support teachers in developing expertise in responsive decision making in which teachers elicit and build on children's mathematical thinking in the midst of instruction.