Math Labs: Teachers, Teacher Educators, and School Leaders Learning Together With and From Their Own Students

This article describes a structure for embedding professional development within a school day, which we call Math Labs. It enables teachers to come together, with the guidance of a teacher educator, to engage in collective inquiry into the teaching and learning of mathematics with time to experiment with new ideas with their own students. We explain the design principles, reflecting our commitments to equity and social justice, that motivate what occurs during a typical Math Lab. When Math Labs become an integral part of the school’s culture, they allow teachers and school leaders to negotiate (1) how they position and empower students; (2) what opportunities they give students to learn rich mathematics; and (3) what shared professional values guide their inquiry into students’ mathematical learning.