JOB TALK: Elementary Mathematics Education

Learning to read bodies in early mathematics assessment interviews

Despite the increased use of video in clinical assessment interviews in mathematics, most research involving early childhood assessment interviews relies solely upon the analysis of linguistic data, ignoring children’s bodies. This presentation, which is based on a larger ethnographic project following 16 children from preschool to first grade, explores some theories and methods that foreground the role of the body and uses these tools to analyze video episodes from assessment interviews with preschoolers. The talk will also situate the assessment study within a broader research program focused on intersections among childhood, race, and mathematics.

Amy Noelle Parks is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia and received her PhD in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy from Michigan State University. Her work focuses on equity issues in early mathematics education. She is the principal investigator for the NSF grant, CAREER: Exploring the role of context in young children’s mathematical learning. The goal of the project has been to document the diverse resources children in a rural preschool draw on in their development of mathematical literacy.