We’ve been working on some new resources for teachers! Check out a sample in and let us know if you’d like to learn more.
We’ve been working on some new resources for teachers! Check out a sample in and let us know if you’d like to learn more.
Rubric to Evaluate Culturally-Responsive Math Lessons
In order to make progress towards a culturally responsive pedagogy, you have to be in a constant state of reflection. You need to be consistently evaluating where your curriculum stands and identifying appropriate next steps. We hope that you’ll take advantage of our curriculum evaluation tool for support.
We’ve designed this tool to help you review existing curricula and envision equitable learning experiences. You can evaluate one or many lessons across 5 categories. For each category, you’ll be asked to complete a questionnaire and use your responses to rate how culturally responsive your lessons are. Completing all five categories will provide a more comprehensive analysis. However, if you don’t have the time or capacity to do that, you can complete a questionnaire and rubric for an individual category and get a more limited evaluation.
To create this tool we drew upon elements from NYU’s Culturally Responsive Scorecard1, TEACH Math’s Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching Lesson Analysis Tool2, and Boston Public School’s “look fors” for high expectations3.
Representation
| Straight Girl/Woman | LGBTQ+ Girl/Woman | Straight Boy/Man | LGBTQ+ Boy/Man | Non-binary | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Black /African | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Latinx | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middle Eastern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Multiracial | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Racially Ambiguous | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| People with Disabilities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Please check the family structures represented in your lessons:
Please indicate the ethnic and cultural traditions, languages, religions, names and/or clothing referenced in your lessons:
Please check all of the following that apply to your lessons:
Based on the above, evaluate your lesson in the rubric below. Click on the appropriate category to select.
| Culturally Destructive | -2 | The lessons reinforce stereotypes and portray people of color in inferior and destructive ways. |
| Culturally Insufficient | -1 | The lessons have culturally and racially ambiguous characters. Few characters and stories are portrayed in a culturally and historically accurate way. |
| Emerging Awareness | 0 | The lessons represent some groups in diverse and dynamic ways but not at all. Some characters are portrayed in culturally and historically accurate ways, while others are still depicted as stereotypes. |
| Culturally Aware | +1 | The lessons capture a decent representation of diverse characters, who are generally portrayed in accurate and dynamic ways. |
| Culturally Responsive | +2 | The lessons capture a wide representation of dynamic characters that are reflected in accurate and appropriate cultural and historical contexts. |
Once you're ready, click Next to move to the next section!
Power & Participation
Please check all of the following that apply to your lessons:
Based on the above, evaluate your lesson in the rubric below. Click on the appropriate category to select.
| Culturally Destructive | -2 | The authority of mathematics knowledge primarily resides with the teacher. The teacher acts as the sole judge of whether or not answers are correct. Mathematical contributions in the lessons are almost exclusively from the teacher. Student mathematical contributions are minimal. |
| Culturally Insufficient | -1 | The authority of mathematics knowledge primarily resides with the teacher and select students. The lessons only elicit mathematical contributions from select students. |
| Emerging Awareness | 0 | The authority of math knowledge between teacher and students is sporadically shared. In each lesson, there is at least one instance where the teacher calls on several students so that multiple mathematical contributions are accepted and valued. Teacher elicits some substantive math contributions. |
| Culturally Aware | +1 | The authority of math knowledge is shared between teacher and students. Multiple forms of student mathematical contributions are encouraged and valued. The teacher and students elicit substantive mathematics contributions. Students learn to coexist. |
| Culturally Responsive | +2 | The authority of math knowledge is widely shared between the teacher and students. All mathematical contributions are valued and respected. Student mathematical contributions are actively elicited by the teacher and among students. Students learn to coexist, fit in, and belong. |
Once you're ready, click Next to move to the next section!
Relevance
Please check all of the following that apply to your lessons:
Please check all of the following that apply to your lessons:
Based on the above, evaluate your lesson in the rubric below. Click on the appropriate category to select.
| Culturally Destructive | -2 | The lessons center White or Eurocentric ideas and culture throughout the majority of instructional materials. Microaggressions, biases, and deficit perspectives are prevalent. The lessons are disconnected from students’ lives. |
| Culturally Insufficient | -1 | The lessons predominantly center White or Eurocentric ideas and culture in most of the instructional materials. Students are seldomly encouraged to think critically, or take action to combat inequity. The lessons provide weak connections to students’ lived experiences. |
| Emerging Awareness | 0 | The lessons occasionally center multiple perspectives. Some critical questions are posed to students. Non-dominant knowledge systems are acknowledged and mentioned a few times throughout the lessons. There are few opportunities for the teacher to connect students’ learning to real life issues and action. |
| Culturally Aware | +1 | The lessons center people of color, marginalized populations, and multiple perspectives. The lessons provide multiple opportunities for students to think critically. There are several opportunities for teachers to connect students’ learning to real life issues and action. |
| Culturally Responsive | +2 | The curriculum is likely humanizing, liberatory, and equity oriented. Instances of centering multiple perspectives are abundant throughout the curriculum. There are clear prompts, activities, and content that connect students’ learning to real life issues and actions. There are many opportunities for teachers to engage cultural responsiveness. |
Once you're ready, click Next to move to the next section!
Cognitive Demand
Please check all of the following that apply to your lessons:
Please check all of the following that are used in your lessons:
Based on the above, evaluate your lesson in the rubric below. Click on the appropriate category to select.
| Culturally Destructive | -2 | There are no opportunities for mathematical analysis or exploration. Students receive, recite, or memorize facts, procedures, and definitions. Virtually no features of mathematical discourse and communication occur. There is no evidence of conceptual understanding being required. The lessons convey that the material may be too challenging for some students, and do not provide opportunities for the teacher to model how students can master the material through effort. |
| Culturally Insufficient | -1 | There are few opportunities for mathematical exploration, but tasks do not require analysis to complete. Students primarily receive, recite, or perform routine procedures without analysis or connection to underlying concepts or mathematical structure (rote learning). There are few opportunities for mathematical discourse and communication. The lessons convey that the material is challenging, but rarely provide opportunities for the teacher to model how students can master the material through effort. |
| Emerging Awareness | 0 | There are multiple activities that incorporate mathematical exploration and analysis and require students to think deeply about the procedures and concepts they use to solve problems. There are multiple opportunities for mathematical discourse and communication. The lessons convey that the material is challenging, and provide some opportunities for the teacher to model how students can master the material through effort. There are some opportunities for students to share their understanding and engage in mathematical discourse and communication. |
| Culturally Aware | +1 | The majority of lessons include task(s) that incorporate mathematical exploration and require analysis. The majority of lessons require students to think deeply about the procedures and concepts they use to solve problems and provide opportunities for students to develop their own explanations. The majority of lessons prompt students to engage in mathematical discourse and communication. The lessons convey that the material is challenging, and provide many opportunities for the teacher to model how students can master the material through effort. |
| Culturally Responsive | +2 | Each lesson includes task(s) that incorporate mathematical exploration and require analysis. Each lesson prompts students to engage in complex mathematical thinking, develop and share their own explanations, and engage in mathematical discourse. The lessons position the teacher to clearly and consistently model how students can master challenging material and meet learning goals through effective effort. |
Once you're ready, click Next to move to the next section!
Academic Language and English Language Learner Support
Please check all of the following strategies used in your lessons:
Based on the above, evaluate your lesson in the rubric below. Click on the appropriate category to select.
| Culturally Destructive | -2 | There is no evidence of a language scaffolding strategy for ELLs. Students who are not yet fully proficient in English are ignored and expected to fend for themselves. |
| Culturally Insufficient | -1 | Although there is no explicit use of language strategies for ELLs, students’ use of their first language is tolerated. There is a primary focus on correct usage of English vocabulary. |
| Emerging Awareness | 0 | In each lesson, there is at least one language scaffolding strategy used to develop academic language (i.e., revoicing; use of cognates; translated tasks/text; use of graphic organizers; strategic grouping with bilingual students). |
| Culturally Aware | +1 | In each lesson, there is sustained use of at least a couple of language strategies, such as the use of revoicing and attention to cognates, direct modeling of vocabulary, use of realia, strategic grouping of bilingual students or encouragement of L1 usage is observed at least between teacher and one, or small group, of students. |
| Culturally Responsive | +2 | In each lesson, there is deliberate and continuous use of language strategies, such as gesturing, use of objects (realia), use of cognates, revoicing, graphic organizers and manipulatives are observed during whole class and /or small group instruction and discussions. The main focus is the development of mathematical discourse and meaning making, not students’ production of “correct” English. |
Once you're ready, click Next to see the results.