Commentary 1: Providing Respectful and Ability-Oriented Feedback to Parents: A Commentary on Aguirre’s Case

I draw from multiple sets of experiences when I write this commentary. I come from an ethnically diverse family where my mother is Puerto Rican and my father is a mixture of European descent. I grew up with a wonderful blend of language, tradition, and viewpoints that helped me appreciate and accept the diversity around me. However in school this was not always the case. I once overheard my first-grade teacher say, “We’re in America! They need to learn English!” when referring to a group of students in an ESL class. She made it sound like speaking Spanish would be a hindrance to these students. Knowing that teachers might have deficit opinions of their students helped to shape my views as a graduate student and emerging researcher with a deep interest in equitable mathematics teaching.