Chapter 16 Case 13: Developing equitable Teaching Practices Through Facilitated Teacher Learning Communities

In this case, we illustrate how we developed networked learning communities to support teachers and leaders from a set of urban public schools serving students of color in co-constructing, experimenting with, and refining more equitable and just mathematics teaching practices. The educators and authors were involved in a research-practice partnership between a university and a network of 14 K–8 schools from underserved neighborhoods (Responsive Math Teaching Project, 2021a).¹ We first describe the development of cross-school learning communities focused on problem solving and collaborative lesson design, highlighting the ongoing commitment to promoting equity and justice. We then present examples of how some of the learning communities were cultivated around the collective development and refinement of a central idea in equitable mathematics instruction—providing access to challenging content while maintaining the cognitive demand for students. The case highlights how participation in learning communities allowed participants to embrace inherent tensions: first through engagement as learners, which led to the development of equity-focused instructional visions; and then through ongoing, collaborative reflection and implementation of inclusive instructional practices in their own classrooms.