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Four elementary school

instructors offer insights into
their classrooms, their unique
professional roles, and their
leadership approaches.

JACK HOLLINGSWORTH/THINKSTOCK

By
Cathy J. Kinzer, Mari Rincn,
Jana Ward, Ricardo Rincn,
and Lesli Gomez

hen teacher leaders share their

work, it gives us an opportunity
to understand their unique
instructional commitments and
professional learning roles. This article offers
expert insights from four elementary school
teacher leadersMari Rincn, Leslie Gomez,
Ricardo Rincn, and Jana Wardas they reflect
on their journey to advance teacher and student
mathematics learning.

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February 2014 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 20, No. 6

Copyright 2014 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. www.nctm.org. All rights reserved.
This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.

www.nctm.org

www.nctm.org

Vol. 20, No. 6 | teaching children mathematics February 2014

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What is a teacher leader?

Mari Rincn (a third-grade teacher leader): I
define a teacher leader as a teacher who serves as
an example to other educators. A teacher leader
strives to impact student learning; consistently
assesses and seeks evidence of student success;
and is a learner, improviser, and innovator.
Lesli Gomez (a fourth-grade teacher leader): A
teacher leader works collaboratively with the
school community to advance students learning. As a leader, I put the learning needs of
students first. I am developing effective communication skills; engaging in cognitive coaching;
and understanding the change process in working with peers, administrators, and parents. As a
teacher leader, I am confident and competent to
provide instructional support to colleagues. Our
elementary school has become more collaborative and focused on effective mathematics
teaching and learning.

A teacher
leader strives
to impact
student
learning;
consistently
assesses and
seeks evidence
of student
success; and
is a learner,
improviser,
and innovator.

Both Mari Rincn and Gomez emphasize

their primary role as teacher leaders as supporting students mathematical learning. Ricardo
Rincn, a fourth-grade teacher leader, and Jana
Ward, a second-grade teacher leader, share this
student-centered focus and offer insights into
the roles and responsibilities of mentoring or
supporting colleagues at their campus, as they
define teacher leadership.
R. Rincn: A teacher leader empowers students
and colleagues to explore innovative mathematical practices to foster discovery and develop
fluency in problem solving and making sense
of mathematics. I have learned to work effectively in teams through sharing rich math tasks,
student work, classroom videos, strategies,
and protocols. It is also important to engage
in doing mathematics with colleagues in our
professional learning community. As a teacher
leader, I have provided schoolwide structures
and processes for ensuring success for second
language learners in mathematics. I am committed at the school, district, and national levels to supporting English language learners in
excelling in mathematics.
Ward: A teacher leader exemplifies good teaching. Teacher leaders work in and out of the
classroom for the benefit of their students and

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February 2014 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 20, No. 6

Jana Ward demonstrates the good work of

teacher leaders inside the classroom.

all students in their school. These teachers often

take the our students approach, meaning that
they feel a sense of responsibility for the success of all students, not just those whose names
appear on their roster. They work collaboratively
with colleagues; they may not always have the
answers, but they are willing to put in the work
necessary to solve problems and address needs.
Teacher leaders lead by example, implementing
best practices in their everyday instruction and
sharing their successes (or lack thereof) with
other professionals. Often occurring through
mentorship or peer teaching, it serves a dual
purpose: enhance student achievement and
provide professional learning opportunities for
all parties involved. A teacher leader advocates
for the needs of students and fellow teachers by
clearly communicating what is most important
and backing it up with data and evidence that
support ones claims. Since teacher leaders see
their teaching practice as a means for ongoing
research, these data and evidence come from
experience in the classroom. Teacher leaders
seek continually to improve their practice by
participating in ongoing learning and professional development that they can use to
enhance their teaching and students learning.
www.nctm.org

Teacher leadership
Teacher leaders can provide educational leadership and scholarship to strengthen mathematics
understanding and achievement. They serve
as catalysts for teaching, leading, and learning in the classroom and at the school, district,
and national levels. Mathematicians and math
educators at New Mexico State University
have collaboratively designed a math teacher
leadership program for Kgrade12 teachers
and math coaches to provide opportunities for
developing the required qualifications and skills.
The Leadership Institute for Teachers (LIFT)
(National Science Foundation [NSF] 2009) is a
two-year commitment to rigorous coursework
to increase teacher leader knowledge and skills
in math, pedagogy, and leadership in schools
and districts to improve Kgrade12 students
mathematics learning experiences.

Developing teacher leaders

through LIFT
A partnership between a university and public school districts, LIFT provides educational
experiences that advance professional growth to
support all students learning. LIFT includes two
cohorts of thirty teacher leaders who can obtain
their Master of Arts degree in Teaching Mathematics. These developing teacher leaders are
situated in classrooms or serve as district math
coaches. They have purposeful opportunities
to collaborate across districts and within their
schools to support mathematics education. The
LIFT coursework includes building relational
skills and developing effective communication
practices, analysis and refinement of teaching and learning, and ongoing assessment for
strengthening both the LIFT courses and university teaching practices.
The six semesters of rigorous course work are
designed and team taught by mathematicians
and math educators. The diversity of Kgrade12
LIFT teachers offers opportunities for thinking
about mathematics through research-based
learning progressions (McCallum 2012). Key
ideas from Common Core State Standards for
Mathematics (CCSSM) domains (CCSSI 2010)
are the focus of math learning within a course.
For example, one semester includes developing
mathematical ideas connecting measurement
and geometry. The math concepts are experienced by engaging in problem-solving activiwww.nctm.org

ties, sharing representations and strategies, and

writing about mathematics; the daylong courses
include an explicit weave focused on math
pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman 1986)
and general pedagogical knowledge.

Supporting teacher leaders in

their classrooms and schools
To promote ongoing support for their expanding roles as teacher leaders, a school support
team serves as a bridge between the university
and the LIFT educators in their school settings.
The team includes a university LIFT mentor,
teacher leaders, and school administrators.
Ongoing mentoring includes focused conversations with the principal, the teacher leaders, and
a school support team member. Principals and
teacher leaders collectively develop a vision for
the teacher leadership roles on the school campus. Teacher leaders apply their LIFT learning
through collaborative experiences such as coteaching, using research-informed protocols,
engaging in lesson study, studying teaching
practices through video, examining student
work in a professional learning community
(PLC), and measuring the impact of teaching on
students learning.

Perspectives
The following vignettes from four elementary
school LIFT teachers highlight their teacher
leader roles as they share insights into their
practices and their developing perceptions and
responsibilities as LIFT teacher leaders. Mari
Rincn, Lesli Gomez, Ricardo Rincn, and Jana
Ward teach in elementary school classrooms
that include a majority of culturally and linguistically diverse students. The four of them
offer vignettes focused on (1) how their teacher
leadership influences student achievement and
(2) how they have supported educators and their
school community.

As a leader,
I put the
learning needs
of students first.
I am developing
effective
communication
skills; engaging
in cognitive
coaching; and
understanding
the change
process in
working
with peers,
administrators,
and parents.

In what ways does teacher leadership

affect student learning?
M. Rincn: The transition into the role of
teacher leader surprised me; I dont view myself
as an extraordinary teacher. I have always
believed in fostering a standards-based learning
environment (SBLE) in my classroom to create
an atmosphere of high expectations where
students work to achieve learning goals in
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387

A teacher
leader
empowers
students and
colleagues
to explore
innovative
mathematical
practices to
foster discovery
and develop
fluency
in problem
solving and
making
sense of
mathematics.

mathematics. By dedicating myself to studying

and understanding math concepts, I have helped
students to reach levels beyond the standards
in mathematics. . . . In an SBLE environment,
students know when they have mastered the
goal, and they are always interested in setting a
new (more challenging) goal. Once one student
observes a peer working on a task with a higher
cognitive demand, that student is motivated to
get there, too. In fact, this is what drives students
to become resources for one another; it is a
culture of support and success. Students know
that when the whole class achieves the goal,
we can set new challenges that take us deeper
into the math. When colleagues come in our
classroom, they see collaboration and engage
ment in math tasks. It is not surprising to hear,
How did you get your students to this point?
My response? Students love a good challenge!
Using my learning experiences from LIFT, I
have developed a stance of inquiry and curiosity
that is also instilled in students, our classroom
culture, and the types of math activities we do.
Active engagement in problem solving and
critical thinking through daily use of cognitively
demanding tasks develops students math thinking and achievement. For the past two years, students have scored very high (top 9percent in the
state) on rigorous state standards-based assessments (Kinzer and Taft 2012). My students are
featured in the NCTM book, Beyond Good Teaching (Kinzer and Rincn 2012), where I share strategies for building a thriving culture for supporting English language learners in mathematics.
Gomez: As a teacher leader, I have a direct
impact on student learning and achievement.
My students are active learners. They know that
if they want to solve problems, they must put
in the thinking effort themselves. I will not just
tell them an answer; just the opposite, I will
ask them a question to make them think more
deeply. My students are required to engage in
mathematics through speaking, listening, and
writing. They make sense of math ideas through
the Common Core Mathematical Practices. Purposeful sharing of their mathematical thinking
also benefits our individual and collective learning, understanding of math, and achievement.
R. Rincn: As a teacher leader, I understand
that my students ability to learn new concepts

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February 2014 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 20, No. 6

Lesli Gomez recognizes teacher leaders direct

impact on student learning and achieving.

is limited only by my ability to engage them in

the lesson. With that in mind, I have studied
generative strategies that challenge students
interest and intellect. One such example is scaffolding cognitively demanding tasks by starting on concepts that they understand well and
gradually increasing the level of difficulty until
I connect it to the concept for that day. Students
are intrigued by our shared learning objectives,
posted in the form of a challenge, for example,
converting a traditional objective, such as Students will learn to calculate the area of irregular
shapes, to In what creative ways will we use our
mathematical reasoning to find the area of irregular geometric shapes? This approach stimulates
students intellect and provokes a higher level
of engagement because they want to end the
lesson by stating that they can meet the posted
challenge and communicate their math thinking and strategies with others.
Ward: [During] my teacher leadership journey,
. . . my second-, third-, and fourth-grade classrooms have transformed. During my first year
of teaching third grade, I was in a school that
valued silent learningstudents working
quietly at their desks. This was in direct conflict
with my teaching style and what I knew was best
for my students, many of whom were English
language learners or had special education
needs. So, I struggled that year to balance best
practices and school cultural expectations. At
the time, literacy, science, and social studies in
my classroom reflected a cooperative learning
environment. However, math wasnt my favorite
subject to teach, and I lacked the confidence
and competence to facilitate a cooperative math
learning environment. That changed rapidly
once I became involved in LIFT. This program
www.nctm.org

was a turning point for me; I had not seen myself

as a teacher leader, but I aspired to become one.
As I progressed through my LIFT journey,
best practices for teaching mathematics came
quickly to the forefront. I thought about my
students, whom I was fortunate enough to
loop with to the next grade, and I knew that I
had to make changes to my teaching practice
to make their learning experience valuable.
Things like having conversations about our
mathematical thinking, questioning for clarity
and understanding, allowing students to work
cooperatively, facilitating discussions rather
than leading them, and teaching for conceptual
understanding before expecting procedural
fluency became the focus of our mathematics
learning environment. It was not easy and took
time, but it was worth every bit of energy and
effort because the students benefited. Listening to my students talk about math concepts
and ideas in ways that made sense to them,
asking questions of one another because they
were curious to understand the thinking of others, and seeing their confidence in their abilities rise were extremely rewarding.
The impact on achievement and student
learning was, and still is, palpable. My English
language learners, who had at one time sat
silently during math, were now at the front
of the classroom, sharing strategies and their
math thinking. These students benefited from
listening to peers who were strong English language models talk about mathematics and use

academic vocabulary. For students with special

education needs, exploring concepts rather than
following procedures helped them to grasp and
demonstrate their understanding of mathematical ideas for the first time. The large majority of
my students now say that math is their favorite
subject and they get excited when math begins.
All of these things are a direct result of my
transformation into a teacher leader, thanks to
participation in a research project that focused
on improving teaching and leading through
understanding mathematics and how to teach
in ways that are accessible and support students learning.
I am continually shocked at how brilliant
these students are, and they prove time and
time again that they do not need me to tell them
what they are learning; rather, by facilitating
their thinking, the mathematics becomes theirs.
These students love math, which I believe comes
from their teachers love of teaching math!
Before LIFT, teaching math was a chore; now it is
something I am confident and excited about. My
confidence in teaching mathematics has grown
dramatically as my understanding of mathematics has deepened. This was important to me
because I could guide student understanding,
pose meaningful questions to support student
learning, and help students to clarify their thinking. By studying learning progressions in the
K12 Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010) in LIFT, I can better prepare
my students for what is ahead through focused
and in-depth teaching. I am not intimidated by
these changes; I am excited about the possibilities that they hold for our students.

I am
continually
shocked at how
brilliant these
students are,
and they prove
time and time
again that they
do not need
me to tell them
what they are
learning; rather,
by facilitating
their
thinking, the
mathematics
becomes theirs.
These students
love math,
which I believe
comes from
their teachers
love of
teaching math!

As a teacher leader, how do you

influence your school or community?

Ricardo Rincn has studied generative strategies

that challenge students interest and intellect.

www.nctm.org

M. Rincn: I helped build a culture in the school

for supporting English learners through sharing
my knowledge and skills with colleagues and by
providing professional learning opportunities,
such as using sheltered instruction strategies
(Echevarria and Short 1999; Kinzer and Rincn
2012) and technology in math instruction. My
students achievement data and their engagement in math provide evidence that using
culturally competent strategies to acknowledge
and build from student languages and cultural
resources (Moll et al. 2005) can support all students in learning mathematics. Our professional
Vol. 20, No. 6 | teaching children mathematics February 2014

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I can better support students in the classroom

and teachers at our school as we develop the
professional knowledge to effectively implement the Common Core Standards.

Students achievement data and engagement in math are evidence

to Mari Rincn that using culturally competent strategies supports
all students in learning mathematics.

learning community (PLC) provides opportunities to influence mathematics teaching through

developing common assessments, understanding students thinking through studying their
work, and opening my practices to others as
a shared learning space. Our classroom has
become a learning studio for teachers, professors, parents, and administrators.
Gomez: I have influenced colleagues at my
elementary school through leading by example.
I have experienced a leadership trajectory: from
a classroom teacher who worked in isolation to a
teacher willing to learn from others in my school
to a teacher leader who is willing to learn and
develop robust knowledge and skills that translate into students learning. I experience disequilibrium and productive struggle, just as I expect
when students and other teachers are learning. A
central educational goal is learning how to learn,
which empowers both students and teachers in
developing mathematics proficiency.
The LIFT cohort has provided knowledge
and skills to collaborate effectively with fellow
teachers, not only in the school setting but also
across the state. I understand the importance
of building professional relationships and
trust to engage in rigorous content learning.
This summer, I worked with research mathematicians, math educators, and other teacher
leaders to facilitate weeklong Kgrade12 math
academies focused on Common Core math
content and Standards for Mathematical Practices. As a teacher leader, I continually develop
more robust content knowledge for myself so
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February 2014 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 20, No. 6

R. Rincn: My school is fifty miles north of the

border with Mexico, and I serve as a bilingual
teacher in a 50/50 model. As a teacher leader,
I have had the opportunity to influence my
school by advocating for English language
learners (ELLs) and to promote instructional
practices aimed at addressing their learning
needs. We implemented a technology-based
professional development program to assist
staff in building a culture focused on language
acquisition and use. Teachers integrate instructional strategies, such as building background
knowledge, student interaction, and comprehensible input (Echevarria and Short 1999).
The approach resulted in teachers being more
cognizant of their views of students as learners
and included strategies to shift from a deficit
view to an asset perspective.
My contribution as a teacher leader at my
school included establishing traditions aimed
at celebrating our community. Our student
population is over 80percent Hispanic, and I
thought that celebrating El Dia de las Madres
(Mothers Day) would establish a connection with our community that would help our
school to build working relationships with our
students parents.
I have had the privilege to work in a school
where ongoing focused PLCs are the norm. Our
teams meet regularly, three times per week, and
we share instructional experiences, including
peer visits and classroom videos. The professional learning connects directly to the classroom learning. For a few years, I have explored
using the revised Blooms Taxonomy (Anderson
and Krathwohl 2001) to meet higher levels of
cognitive demand during math instruction. This
year I shared with the PLC team that to maintain
students working at higher levels in the taxonomy, we should explore using a mathematical
reasoning approach to problem solving rather
than beginning with or focusing on procedural
strategies. We began to engage in mathematical
reasoning to solve simple and complex problems. This approach resulted in students having
a solid understanding of the concepts and being
able to explain their rationale with excellent
www.nctm.org

articulation, using mathematical terms to do so.

Student achievement scores were exceptional,
and they were developing CCSS mathematical practices that supported their continued
learning.

We need partnerships
With the national emphasis on developing and
empowering teacher leaders, the LIFT program
is a partnership between a university and
public school districts to provide educational
experiences that are needed for advancing
professional growth to support all students
learning in mathematics. Teacher leaders must
make a difference in classrooms for all students.
Four LIFT elementary school teacher leaders
offered vignettes to provide insights into their
classrooms, their unique professional roles, and
their leadership approaches. Our LIFT journey
through these teacher leader voices informs
the broader field about the diverse experiences,
challenges, and opportunities for teacher
leaders to strengthen mathematics teaching,
leading, and learning.
R EFER E N CE S
Anderson, Lorin W., and David R. Krathwohl,
eds. 2001. Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching
and Assessing: A Revision of Blooms
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Abridged ed. New York: Pearson.
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI).
2010. Common Core State Standards for
Mathematics. Washington, DC: National
Governors Association Center for Best
Practices and the Council of Chief State
School Officers. http://www.corestandards
.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf
Echevarria, Jana, and Deborah J. Short.
1999. The Sheltered Instruction
Observation Protocol: A Tool for TeacherResearch Collaboration and Professional
Development, accessed June, 2008. CAL
Center for Applied Linguistics. http://www
.cal.org/resources/digest/sheltered.html
Kinzer, Cathy, and Maricela Rincn. 2012.
Fostering an Equitable Classroom for
English Language Learners. In Beyond Good
Teaching: Advancing Mathematics Education
for ELLs, edited by Norma Ramirez and Sylvia
Celedon-Pattichis, pp. 6367. Reston, VA:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
www.nctm.org

Kinzer, Cathy, and Laura Taft. 2012. Learning

How to Learn: A Schools Continuous
Learning Journey. Journal of Staff
Development 33 (5): 1820, 2223.
McCallum, Bill. Tools for the Common Core
Standards (blog). http://commoncoretools
.me/category/progressions/
Moll, Luis, Cathy Amanti, Deborah Neff, and
Norma Gonzlez. 2005. Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative
Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. In Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing
Practices in Households, Communities, and
Classrooms, edited by Norma Gonzlez, Luis
C. Moll, and Cathy Amanti, pp. 7188.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
National Science Foundation (NSF). 2009. NSF
no.DUE-0928867. Leadership Institute
forTeachers.
Shulman, Lee. 1986. Those Who Understand:
Knowledge Growth in Teaching. Educational
Researcher 15 (2): 414.

Cathy J. Kinzer is a
mathematics educator
at New Mexico State
University. She works
with mathematics
teacher leaders, preservice teachers, mathematicians,
and researchers to improve mathematics teaching and
learning. Mari Rincn has served as an elementary
educator and teacher leader with a focus on supporting
second language learners. She currently is the district
elementary math coach in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Jana Ward is a third-grade teacher at Hillrise Elementary School in Las Cruces. She is interested in creating
engaging learning experiences to expose students to
rich mathematical concepts in real-life contexts. Ricardo
Rincn was an elementary teacher but now teaches
mathematics at Centennial High School in Las Cruces.
He is interested in providing students with opportunities
to articulate their mathematical thinking and reasoning
using innovative technological resources. Lesli Gomez
enjoys teaching in a standards-based learning environment and her fifth-grade students enjoy learning in one.
She serves as a teacher leader in her elementary school.
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