Integrate students' home languages into math instruction to build trust and participation¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Teachers used knowledge of students' home language to strengthen relationships and make math content more accessible. Six out of the 10 teachers commonly integrated Spanish phrases, such as "Está bien!" and "Por qué?", during whole-class share-outs, and three displayed inspirational posters in languages other than English. The report states that such approaches improve students' feelings of trust with their teachers and bolster emerging multilingual students' contributions to classroom discourse.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Some familiarity with students' home languages, or willingness to incorporate phrases from them

Constraints¶

• Practices documented among teachers with varying familiarity with languages other than English

Target Learners¶

• multilingual students
• middle school math students

Target Learning Goals¶

• trust between teacher and students
• accessible communication about math material

Related Strategies¶

• Culture Responsive Instruction
• Connecting ELLs' Background Knowledge to Content
• Cultural Responsive Practice
• Leverage the Native Language
• Incorporate Students' Cultural Practices

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Price, H., & Fitz, J. (2026). Cultivating math mindsets: Teaching practices that enable equitable classroom learning. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/810.406