Dissertation Proposal Announcement Ed.D. Program: Rebecca Takacs “The Middle School Math Mindset Mission – Applying Mindset and Complex Tasks to Pull-Out Resource Math Classrooms”
Instructional models in pull-out resource mathematics classrooms often limit students with disabilities. Instruction focuses on teacher-led procedural tasks that prioritize remediation over high-level conceptual thinking. These practices leave students unable to demonstrate the competencies required for less restrictive environments. Consequently, students remain trapped in a cycle of restrictive placement, developing fixed mathematical mindsets that continue to undermine their motivation and agency.
Guided by a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) framework, this study moves away from deficit-based views of disability. Instead, it examines how implementing complex tasks that require high cognitive demand and diverse intellectual contributions fosters a shift in mathematical mindset within a pull-out resource room.
This mixed-methods study investigates how complex tasks, designed to require a variety of intellectual strengths, promote academic independence. Three research questions guide this study: (1) How does participation in an intervention that utilizes multiple-ability treatment tasks impact math mindset scores among middle school students with disabilities?; (2) How do students with disabilities describe changes in their math mindset after participating in an intervention centered on multiple-ability treatments and math mindset principles?; and (3) In what ways do students’ responses to the intervention, as evidenced by their participation and actions in collaborative math tasks, correspond with shifts in their mathematical mindsets?
A single case-mixed methods design will be employed. Quantitative data collected through pre- and post-surveys will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired t-test to assess changes in mindset. Qualitative data will include task observations, task group artifacts, and semi-structured individual interviews, which will be analyzed through thematic coding. This approach offers insight into the specific classroom interactions that shape the mathematical mindset.
By integrating qualitative and quantitative findings, this study will generate an understanding of whether and how the intervention produces meaningful shifts in mathematical mindset, as well as the processes and classroom interactions that shape those shifts. The results offer educators a framework for restructuring the social and academic environments in pull-out resource settings. Furthermore, this work contributes to research that encourages educators to implement more equitable practices, fostering hope for improved educational experiences for students with disabilities.