CEMELA Institute for the Improvement of Mathematics Teaching and Learning with Latinas/os
University of Illinois at Chicago

In summer 2008, eleven teachers from various Chicago Public Schools participated in the first Institute for the Improvement of Mathematics Teaching and Learning with Latinas/os (IMTeLL) organized by UIC-CEMELA. The purposes of the Institute included the following: 1) To assist teachers in the integration of content and language development (e.g., academic language and writing) in order to better meet the needs of Latina/o students and assessment objectives and requirements in mathematics; 2) To assist teachers to enhance their abilities to develop student ideas, communication, and problem solving in mathematics in order to advance student learning; 3) To assist teachers to better understand the conceptual objectives of their mathematics curriculum and connect these to the language needs of students; 4) To create an environment that encourages teachers to form collaborative teams that can further self-directed instructional enhancement (e.g., action research). As a follow-up activity during the Fall 2008, a set of teachers from IMTeLL are participated with CEMELA fellows in after-school lesson study meetings to review their action research activities.