Instructional Support

Ellevation Education presents this one-hour instructional support webinar featuring Dr. Jeff Zwiers, one of the leading researchers on academic conversations and language development in the classroom. The session focuses on a challenge that mathematics teachers across all grade levels face: how to improve the quality of student talk in maths class so that dialogue becomes a genuine vehicle for mathematical thinking rather than surface-level exchanges. Dr. Zwiers brings deep expertise from his research at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education, where his work on academic language and conversation has shaped how educators think about classroom discourse, particularly for English learners and linguistically diverse students. In this webinar, he shares key strategies from his research on building mathematical dialogue — including how to create environments where students are encouraged to build their own ideas, clarify terms, justify reasoning, and fill information gaps through structured peer interaction. Ellevation Education, known for its platform supporting English learner instruction, hosts this session as part of its commitment to equipping educators with evidence-based strategies that serve all students. The webinar is especially valuable for mathematics teachers who want to move beyond procedural instruction toward classrooms where students actively construct understanding through rich mathematical conversation.