Sarah Roberts

Sarah Roberts an assistant professor of mathematics education in the Department of Education. Professor Roberts received her B.A., M.A., and teaching credential from Stanford University and her Ph.D. from University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to attending graduate school for her Ph.D., Professor Roberts taught high school and middle school math and science for several years in the Bay Area.

Professor Roberts’ research focuses on equity across the P-20 continuum, with an emphasis in mathematics in K-12 education. This work grew out of her experiences as a public school, middle school and high school mathematics and science teacher and her desire to both understand and foster equity in classrooms and schools. As she has developed her primary line of inquiry, she has expanded into other areas, including post-secondary mathematics and higher education research.

Professor Roberts is currently leading three research projects organized around ideas of equity in education: First, the NSF-funded project "CAREER: Understanding the Routinization of Mathematics Language Routines in Middle and High Schools" investigates teachers’ use of mathematics language routines and a professional development model to support teachers’ learning. The central concept of the study is the enactment of mathematics language routines (MLRs) in data science. This study builds on a second project, research funded by a CPM Extensive Research Grant that examines how in-service high school mathematics teachers are better able to work with bilingual learners to access mathematics problems and communicate mathematics reasoning when they use five principles for effective bilingual mathematics instruction and mathematics routines. The third project is a qualitative evaluation of a Title V grant, ÉXITO, which aims to prepare credentialed ethnic studies teachers for California high schools. Professor Roberts develops and implements survey and interview instruments and then works with her team to analyze this data to understand this program and how it is meeting its program goals, working with grant personnel.