Co-constructing a Research Program Through Community Dialogues About Mathematical Storylines

This partnership development project deepens an existing partnership between the researcher and leadership of an elementary school in central Texas that serves predominantly Black and Latine students. The project focuses on engaging community members, teachers, and learners at the school in conversation about how mathematics teaching and learning might be improved. This partnering is important because the relationship between schools and communities is often marked by one-way communication and decision-making without dialogue. By promoting dialogue, all members of this partnership can learn more about the mathematical storylines embedded into the community, that is, the stories that community members, teachers, and learners share about their personal relationship to mathematics teaching and learning. Approaching mathematics education in this way also provides a space for addressing myths about mathematics such as math is free of culture, history, or specific points of view. In the context of this school and the students it serves, the storylines that are uncovered can be a strong cornerstone for developing mathematical practices that support learning by connecting to students' culture, history and community experiences. Finally, by understanding more deeply the mathematical storylines of community members, teachers, and learners, the researcher and leadership team can co-design a research program about mathematics teaching and learning that is anchored in the school communities' concerns, interests and talents.

The question guiding this partnership development project is: In what ways can the research and school leadership teams be in dialogue with the community to enhance the professional development of teachers and experiences of learners in elementary mathematics? To answer this question, the research team will engage in the following activities: 1) Listen to and document the stories of resistance, perseverance, and inequities shared by community members, learners, and teachers regarding mathematics teaching and learning; 2) Analyze and compare mathematical storylines within community dialogues. 3) Develop a collaborative plan of action leading to the development of a research project responsive to the DRK-12 solicitation. The project's findings will add to our understanding of how to (re)create educational spaces that serve, rather than marginalize, communities. Developing a partnership means a deep commitment to the community; consequently, feedback and continued dialogue must be a key component to evaluating the project's success. As such, newsletters, video-updates, member checking, community presentations, and other forms of sharing in the decision-making processes will be used. Across the project, an advisory board of experts in bilingual education, students' learning of mathematics, and community-school partnerships will foster accountability by offering meaningful feedback regarding the extent to which the partnership's processes and objectives are being fulfilled. Lessons learned and reflections can provide a conceptual framework for developing powerful community partnerships through dialogue with school communities and provide district policymakers and school leadership with tools and strategies for creating more bidirectional relationships with community members.