Dan Battey Ph.D.

Dan Battey, Ph.D. spent time in urban schools and noticed racial inequities in instruction, especially for Black and Latinx students, when he was inspired to push for ways to better identify and address those inequities. Consequently, his research has come to serve as a catalyst to help teachers to be aware of these disparities and to initiate the conversation on how they can better support historically marginalized students so they can realize their full potential. Challenging traditional thinking, his research examines issues of race and how deficit framings can limit a student’s exposure to more demanding mathematical concepts and instructional methods. Some of his most recent work looks specifically at the racial match between teachers and students, and the impact it has on student-teacher relationships and student learning.

Battey first studied physics during his undergraduate career, before being inspired by a faculty-mentor studying elementary mathematics and deciding to go on to pursue his Ph.D. in education. As a doctoral candidate, he began to narrow his focus to examine quality of instruction, students’ thinking, and how it can be incorporated into professional development. In his early years in the field, he focused on professional development for teachers and wanted to shift teachers’ thinking from deficit-based framings of historically marginalized students’ ability to asset-based framings.

Currently, Battey serves as professor of elementary mathematical education at the GSE, teaching his students to develop culturally sustaining mathematics classrooms. He strives to support effective teaching methods for students of elementary mathematics and to open conversations with teachers on how to use inclusive practices in math.

• Expertise & Research Interest

  Mathematics Education

  Race & Equity in Education

  Professional Development

  My research attempts to both look at the micro processes and the macro ideologies that contribute to racialized and gendered forms of mathematics education. Throughout this research, my work has centered on two major themes: understanding teacher and classroom change and explicating issues of race within mathematics education. In this sense, my work aims to understand both the individual and social constraints and affordances that shape what mathematics content and instruction makes its way into the urban elementary classroom.

• Recent & Selected Publications

  Marshall, B. L. & Battey, D. (2025). “I want them to see their magic!”: Two teachers working within structural constraints to help cultivate their Black girl students’ positive mathematics identities. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 80, 1-19.

  Hyland, N. E., Guzman, A., Antunes, D., & Battey, D. (2025). Reimagining teacher leadership: A framework for transforming structures to diversify the teaching workforce. Equity & Excellence in Education, 58(3), 232–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2025.2490903

  Wilkes II, C. E. & Battey, D. (2024). Disrupting racial storylines about Black girls in mathematics through teaching content and building relationships. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 75, 1-15.

  Marshall, B. L., Rosado, A., & Battey, D. (2022). Successful Black mathematics teachers building collectivity, autonomy, and mathematics expertise of their Black girls. Teachers College Record, 124(11), 153–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812211395

  Vaidya, A. & Battey, D. (2022). Homeplace: Black teachers creating space for black students in mathematics classrooms. Teachers College Record, 124(11), 218–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221139535

  Dominguez, A., Feldman, M., Battey, D., Palpacuer-Lee, C., & Hunsdon, J. (2022) Centering families’ mathematical practices in a multilingual space. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 15(9), 633-641.

  Battey, D., Amman, K., Leyva, L., Hyland, N., & Wolf, E. A. (2022). Racialized and Gendered Labor in Students’ Responses to Precalculus and Calculus Instruction. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 53(2), 94-113.

  Gitomer, D., Martinez, J. F., & Battey, D. (in press). Who’s assessing the assessment? The cautionary tale of the edTPA. To be published in Phi Delta Kappan.

  Battey, D., Bartell, T. G., Webel, C., & Lowry, A. (2021). Understanding the impact of racial attitudes on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of children’s mathematical thinking. Journal of Research for Mathematics Education, 52(1), 62-93.

  Gitomer, D., Martínez, J. F., Battey, D., & Hyland, N. (2021). Assessing the Assessment: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in the edTPA. American Educational Research Journal, 58(1), 3-31.

  Leyva, L., Quea, R., Weber, K., Battey, D., & López, D. (2020). Detailing racialized and gendered mechanisms of pre-calculus and calculus classroom instruction. Cognition & Instruction.

  Burroughs, G., Lewis, A., Battey, D., Curran, M., Hyland, N. & Ryan, S. (2020). From mediated fieldwork to co-constructed partnerships: A framework for guiding and reflecting on P-12 school–university partnerships. Journal of Teacher Education, 71(1), 122-134.

  Battey, D., Leyva, L. A., Williams, I., Belizario, V., Greco, R., & Shah, R. (2018). Racial (mis)match: Relational interactions as a mechanism producing racialized achievement patterns. Harvard Educational Review, 88(4), 455-482.

• Honors & Awards

  2024-2026 Principal Investigator, NJ Department of Education, “Diversifying the Teaching Profession” ($500,000/2 year, 50% responsibility)

  2024 Mathematics Teacher Educator, Outstanding Reviewer Award

  2022 Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award, Outstanding paper in an AERA journal, AERA

  2021-2022 Co-Principal Investigator, NJ Department of Education, “Diversifying the Teaching Profession” ($200,000/1 year, 25% responsibility): Nora Hyland, PI

  2017-2022 Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation, “Challenging, Operationalizing, and Understanding Racialized and Gendered Experiences in Undergraduate Mathematics” ($300,000/3 year, 50% responsibility)

  2019 Faculty Research Award, Rutgers Graduate School of Education

  2019 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Award, Graduate School of Education Alumni Association

  2015-2019 Chancellor’s Scholar Award, Rutgers University, innovation in research ($5000 per year)

• Files

  Click here for Battey’s CV