Tasks play a central role in the mathematics classroom. Especially when teaching in a heterogeneous mathematics class, teachers should be able to find, select, modify, and assign tasks adequately. The focus in this paper is on adaptivity to cognitively activate all learners at the individual level, and on teachers' abilities to allow for such…

There is widespread belief that addressing differentiation within classroom practice is critical for school improvement in mathematics. School mathematics leaders and consultants are faced with the challenge of interpreting the various models of differentiation that are presented throughout professional learning programs and aligning these with…

Both in New Zealand and internationally, there has been a focus on the use of differentiation in mathematics instruction to raise achievement levels and provide equitable outcomes. New Zealand has a long history of the use of ability grouping to provide differentiation. Recently, this practice has been challenged in a large scale professional…

Teaching mathematics through problem solving is central to contemporary approaches to mathematics instruction, whilst augmenting problem-solving tasks through enabling and extending prompts ensures that a diverse community of learners are provided with opportunities to be optimally challenged, supporting an inclusive classroom environment.…

Preparing future teachers to be responsive to the needs of all students in their classrooms is the goalof any excellent teacher preparation program. How to prepare the preservice teachers (PTs) to be responsive to their students can be challenging. The study followed eight preservice teachers for two years and investigated their differentiation…

The aim of this study is to investigate task design for differentiated instruction in mathematics in professional learning communities. Based on the cultural-historical activity theory, we conceptualize a professional learning community as an activity system and use the analytical construct of contradictions to give an account of structures that…

In order to transform mathematics classrooms for students with disabilities, teachers must design based on learners at the margins. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework built on these principles (Meyer et al., 2014), but lacks a robust process through which educators can reimagine mathematics. We theorize that when educators merge…

In this paper we explore how participation in a constructivist-oriented, classroom aligned mathematics intervention program advanced the learning and positive dispositions of Grade 1 students who were failing to thrive when learning mathematics. Intervention programs are an approach to differentiated instruction that some schools adopt, but there…

In this article we propose the notion of differentiation from an advanced standpoint as a teaching strategy, particularly valuable for working with students with low prior attainment. The notion arose from an enactivist analysis of the work of three teachers, engaged in action research in their own classrooms. All three teachers chose to teach…

Within-class ability grouping (WCAG) is widely used in elementary mathematics instruction in the United States, yet it has drawn criticism on the grounds that it can inequitably limit the learning opportunities of some students, not least because of its connection to between-class ability grouping (BCAG) that is more common in middle or secondary…

The study presented in this paper sought to offer a group of 21 preservice teachers with opportunities to learn about interdisciplinary mathematics pedagogy, plus the experience of implementing it with elementary students. It provided the participating preservice teachers' with an opportunity to reflect upon the potential advantages, as well as…