selected recent UTEP work on ELLs (English language learners) learning mathematics/statistics

Some work was supported in part by the UT System LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, funded by NSF grant #HRD-0703584), or Project LEAP-UP (US Dept. of Education grant #T195N070132) or COURI (Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives) our work also explores matters of language, readability, culture, and context for all learners; asterisk denotes student collaborator

Lesser, L. (expected 2020). Redesigning a statistics literacy course to help prepare pre-service teachers to teach (statistics to) English language learners. In Luciana C. de Oliveira & Marta Civil (Eds.), Teaching mathematics to English language learners: Preparing pre-service and in-service teachers (pp. ___). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lesser, L. (May 18, 2019). Statistics and culture: Considerations for teachers and researchers [roundtable], 9^th United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, Penn State, State College, PA.

Monárrez, A.*, Galvan, L.*, Wagler, A., & Lesser, L. (Nov. 2018). Range of meanings: A sequential mixed methods study of how English language learners encounter assessment items on descriptive statistics. Journal of Statistics Education, 26(3), 162-173. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10691898.2018.1511388

[related invited talk given by 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th authors for UTEP College of Education STEM-ers, April 19, 2019]

Wagler, A., & Lesser, L. (2018). Evaluation of theoretical and empirical characteristics of the Communication, Language And Statistics (CLASS) survey. Statistics Education Research Journal, 17(1), 141-164. http://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ17(1)_Wagler.pdf

Wagler, A., & Lesser, L. (2017). Helping English language learners navigate probability vocabulary and concepts. Selected breakout session at 7^th United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots17/breakout/4H

Mocko, M., Lesser, L., Wagler, A., & Francis, W. (2017). Assessing effectiveness of mnemonics for tertiary students in a hybrid introductory statistics course. Journal of Statistics Education, 25(1), 2-11.

http://tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10691898.2017.1294879?needAccess=true [related breakout session given by 1^st two authors at 9^th United States Conference on Teaching Statistics]

Lesser, L., Wagler, A., & *Salazar, B. (2016). Flipping between languages? An exploratory analysis of the usage by Spanish-speaking English language learner tertiary students of a bilingual probability applet. Statistics Education Research Journal, 15(2), 145-168. http://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ15(2)_Lesser.pdf

Garibay, Lisa Y. (2016). Online Extra: Translating Statistics for Spanish Speakers [supplement to the cover story “Scientists Beyond Borders” of the Fall 2016 issue of UTEP Magazine; see p. 39 of that story]. http://www.utepmagazine.com/blog/2016/9/6/scientists-beyond-borders

Lesser, L., & Wagler, A. (2016). Mathematics, statistics, and (Jewish) culture: Reflections on connections. Journal of Mathematics and Culture, 10(2), 127-156. https://journalofmathematicsandculture.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/lesser-final-august.pdf [also, adapted for a chapter in the 2019 book edited by Tod Shockey, Culture That Counts: A Decade of Depth with the Journal of Mathematics and Culture, Galena, OH: White Plum Publishing]

*Galvan, Lorena (2016). Analysis of English-language learner student reasoning about measures of center and variation: A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data. Master’s thesis (committee: A. Wagler (chair), L. Lesser, & M. Jayasuriya; graduated May 2016) https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI10118245/

Wagler, A. & Lesser, L. (2016). Using technology to increase readability of instructional materials. 3rd Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/ecots/ecots16/posters/b/5

Lesser, L. & Wagler, A. (2016). Tools for assessing readability of statistics teaching materials. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 35(2), 153-171. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/150682/

A. Wagler, L. Lesser, *Ariel González, & *Luis Leal (2015). Assessing the lexico-grammatical characteristics of a corpus of college-level statistics textbooks: Implications for instruction and practice. The Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 45(1), 31-56. http://jtw.sagepub.com/content/45/1/31.full.pdf+html

Lesser, L. (2015). Learning language: A mathematics educator’s reflection on empathy and privilege. Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics, 6(1), 25-32.

Lesser, L. & Wagler. A. (2015). Best practices for responding to (the increasing) cultural and linguistic diversity of introductory statistics students: Research, resources and recommendations. Abstracts of the Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Antonio, TX. http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/amsmtgs/2168_abstracts/1106-a5-1296.pdf

Wagler, A. & Lesser, L. (2014). Assessing Dimensionality of the Communication, Language And Statistics Survey: A Multi-Group Analysis with Introductory Statistics Students Near the US-Mexico Border. In K. Makar, B. de Sousa, & R. Gould (Eds.), Sustainability in statistics education. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS9, July, 2014), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute. http://icots.info/9/proceedings/pdfs/ICOTS9_C273_WAGLER.pdf.

Lesser, L., Wagler, A., Esquinca, A., & *Valenzuela, M. G. (2013). Survey of native English speakers and Spanish-speaking English language learners in tertiary introductory statistics. Statistics Education Research Journal, 12(2), 6-31. http://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ12(2)_Lesser.pdf

Lesser, L. (2013). Using context to classify variables. Teaching Statistics, 35(1), 29-31.  

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9639.2012.00527.x/pdf

*Salazar, Berenice (2012). Qualitative analysis of the usage by Spanish-speaking English language learners of resources for learning probability. Master’s thesis (committee: L. Lesser (chair), A. Wagler, & R. Reyes; graduated December 2012 and received fall 2012 COS precommencement award as Outstanding Graduate Student in MAT-Mathematics) http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1533250/

*Monárrez, Angélica (2012). Analysis of differential item functioning on selected items assessing conceptual knowledge of descriptive statistics for Spanish-speaking ELL and non-ELL college students; Master’s thesis (committee: A. Wagler (chair), L. Lesser, & P. Espinosa; graduated August 2012); http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1518203/

Wagler, A., Lesser, L., *Monárrez, A., & *Salazar, B. (2012) English language learners in the statistics classroom: Research, resources, and recommendations. Invited paper, Joint Statistical Meetings, San Diego, CA. https://ww2.amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2012/onlineprogram/ActivityDetails.cfm?SessionID=207423

Wagler, A. E., & Lesser, L. M. (2011). Teaching statistics to culturally and linguistically diverse students. Proceedings of the 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings, Section on Statistical Education (pp. 821-830). http://www.statlit.org/pdf/2011Wagler-Lesser-JSM.pdf

Lesser, L. (2011). Supporting learners of varying levels of English proficiency. Statistics Teacher Network, 77, 2-5. https://ww2.amstat.org/education/stn/pdfs/STN77.pdf

Winsor, Matthew; *Pérez-Badillo, Ydalisse; Lewis, Gary; Lesser, Lawrence (2011). A multi-state comparison of teachers’ beliefs about teaching English language learners mathematics. In L. R. Wiest & T. Lamberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 996-1005). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno. http://math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/ELLpmena11.pdf

Lesser, L. (2010). Equity and the increasingly diverse tertiary student population: challenges and opportunities in statistics education. In C. Reading (Ed.), Data and context in statistics education: Towards an evidence-based society. Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Teaching Statistics, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute. http://iase-web.org/documents/papers/icots8/ICOTS8_3G3_LESSER.pdf

Lesser, L. (2010). An ethnomathematics spin on statistics class. Notices of the North American Study Group in Ethnomathematics (NASGEm News), 3(2), 5-6. http://nasgem.rpi.edu/files/2055/

Lesser, L. (2010). The Necessity of Equity in Teaching Statistics. Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, no. 25. (8 pp.) http://people.exeter.ac.uk/PErnest/pome25/index.html

or http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/LesserPMEJ.pdf

*González, Rosa Isela (2009). Survey research to assess secondary school teachers’ disposition and readiness for teaching mathematics to English language learners; Master’s thesis (committee: L. Lesser (chair), M. Tchoshanov, & M. Winsor; graduated Dec. 2009). http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1473865/

*Valenzuela, María Guadalupe (2009). Survey research on communication and language for English learner and native English speakers enrolled in a college course on statistics literacy; Master’s thesis (committee: L. Lesser (chair), A. Wagler, & M. Winsor; graduated December 2009). http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1473896/

Lesser, L. & Winsor, M. (2009). English language learners in introductory statistics: Lessons learned from an exploratory case study of two pre-service teachers. Statistics Education Research Journal, 8(2), 5-32. http://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ8(2)_Lesser_Winsor.pdf

Winsor, M. (2007). Bridging the language barrier in mathematics. Mathematics Teacher, 101(5), 372-378.

Lesser, L. (2006). Book of Numbers: Exploring Jewish mathematics and culture at a Jewish high school. Journal of Mathematics and Culture, 1(1), 8-31. https://journalofmathematicsandculture.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/exploring-jewish-mathematics.pdf [also, adapted for a chapter in the 2019 book edited by Tod Shockey, Culture That Counts: A Decade of Depth with the Journal of Mathematics and Culture, Galena, OH: White Plum Publishing]

[other work in this area includes presentations at these local, state, or national meetings: the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, UTEP’s COURI Symposium, Bilingual Educators Emphasizing and Mastering Standards (BEEMS) conference, UTEP CoED Mathematics Education Research Seminar, Texas Association for Bilingual Educators, International Sun Conference on Teaching and Learning, Conference for Advancement of Mathematics Teaching]

SELECTED CLASSROOM RESOURCES:

list of terms compiled in 30+ languages by the International Statistical Institute at http://isi.cbs.nl/glossary;

applets available in Spanish from www.eduteka.org/MI/master/interactivate and in Spanish, French, Chinese, etc.

from http://nlvm.usu.edu/es/nav ;

GAISE in Spanish: https://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/GAISE/Spanish.pdf

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Larry Lesser http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/

Amy Wagler http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/wagler/