03/07/2025
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Tracy Manousaridis "I am good, I am brave, I count things. "The impact of culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy in early mathematics teaching and learning.”

Candidate: Tracy Manousaridis
Degree: Doctoral- Leadership in Schooling (STEM)
Defense Date: Friday, March 21, 2025
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Remote Zoom link
Thesis/Dissertation Title: "'I am good, I am brave, I count things.' The impact of culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy in early mathematics teaching and learning”

Dissertation Committee
Dissertation Chair: Michelle Scribner, Ed.D., Clinical Professor, Math and Science Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: James Nehring, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus, Leadership in Schooling, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: Linda Riley, Ed.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell


Abstract
Despite a decade of educational reforms, the mathematical achievement gap continues to widen for historically marginalized students, creating an urgent need for innovative, culturally responsive approaches in early mathematics education. This study investigates this persistent inequity in the Dovetown school district, where elementary students who identify as African/Black and/or Hispanic/Latino represent 38% of mathematics interventions despite comprising only 9% of the student population. Research indicates that early mathematical proficiency significantly predicts later academic success while mathematical identity profoundly affects growth. Culturally responsive teaching has emerged as a promising approach for enhancing mathematical self-efficacy and fostering positive identity formation, connecting learning to students' lived experiences. Using an improvement science framework, this study implemented a six-week intervention across three kindergarten and three first-grade classrooms, introducing daily 15-minute "Number Nuggets" math lesson warm-ups featuring culturally relevant content. The mixed-methods design employed both quantitative instruments (surveys and observation protocols) and qualitative methods (interviews and student work samples) to investigate how these warm-ups influenced student engagement, mathematical self-efficacy, and identity formation. Research study data show that the Number Nugget intervention successfully resulted in improvements in student self-efficacy by 11.5% (p<.05) and engagement by 30.5% (p<.05), with the most substantial improvements seen in vicarious learning experiences and peer interactions. Findings contribute to understanding how mathematics instruction that intentionally connects to students' cultural backgrounds can address persistent inequities in early education. This research offers practical strategies for implementing culturally responsive mathematics instruction while addressing broader implications for narrowing achievement gaps.