FRAMING PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATIONS WITH TEACHERS: DEVELOPING ADMINISTRATORS’ PROFESSIONAL NOTICING OF STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL THINKING

In this paper we share the first phase of an on-going professional development project for administrators aimed at helping them facilitate non-evaluative professional conversations with mathematics teachers. School administrators have the ability to support teachers’ instructional practice, however, administrators’ ability to notice pivotal moments in students’ mathematical thinking greatly influences the quality of support they can provide. Findings indicated that administrators were initially not specific about noticing students’ mathematical thinking when observing lessons, but their ability to notice and plan for conversations about students’ mathematical thinking developed over time.