Culturally responsive professional development for one special education teacher of Latino English language learners with mathematics learning disabilities

This study describes the word-problem solving instruction of one elementary special education teacher of Latino English Language Learners (Latino ELLs) with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD) in an urban school setting. This study was situated in a culturally responsive teaching framework. In investigating this instruction with Latino ELLs with MLD, this study focused on how one teacher's knowledge of mathematics pedagogy influenced her instruction, and how her instruction changed once provided professional development. Findings resulted in three major themes that were aligned with the current education literature in this area: Mathematics is More Than Numbers, Endowing Children with Linguistic Mathematics Capital, and Mathematics Comprehension a Cognitive Adventure. The results indicated that the success of ELLs with MLD at the elementary education level might be dependent on how well the special education teacher receives professional development related to problem solving comprehension.