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In this example of mathematical modeling, students drive the work as they collect and analyze data, predict future outcomes, and take action to reduce plastic water bottle waste at their school. 

This study explores the integration of culturally responsive mathematical modeling (CRMM) in primary grades to promote racial justice and critical consciousness. The research focuses on how CRMM can support problem-based learning (PBL) by engaging students in analyzing real-world issues through mathematics. CRMM leverages students' cultural knowledge, identities, and experiences to critically examine and address social justice issues, such as racial representation in classroom libraries. The study utilizes a case study approach to investigate the supports and challenges faced by two primary grade teachers in designing and implementing a CRMM task, the Library Diversity Project. This project aimed to evaluate and improve the fairness of classroom library collections by analyzing the representation of different racial and cultural groups in children's books. The research highlights the importance of collegial support, critical reflection, and the use of specific pedagogical tools, such as decision matrices and graphical representations, in facilitating CRMM. Key findings indicate that CRMM tasks can cultivate critical awareness and empathy among students, enabling them to take action to address inequities. The study also unveils the complexity of implementing CRMM, particularly in navigating political, contextual, and mathematical challenges. Teachers' critical reflexivity and collaboration were essential in addressing these challenges and fostering a learning environment that allowed students to use mathematics to analyze an issue and take action. The research contributes to the literature on equity-focused mathematics education by providing empirical evidence of the potential of CRMM to promote social justice in the primary grades. It emphasizes the need for ongoing professional development and support for teachers to effectively integrate CRMM into their practice. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and practice in culturally responsive mathematics teaching. 

The mathematics of budgeting and space can lead to a justice-oriented experience for elementary students as they design a proposal for an inclusive playground. 

In this article, educators across schools tell the story of planning, implementing, and reflecting on an elementary antiracist unit focused on mathematizing racial representation in school libraries. Students and teachers engaged in conversations about race, utilized mathematics to visualize erasures of race in literature, and involved parents, administrators and the community in recognizing and taking action to change this injustice. Our team considers tensions and powerful student thinking involved in using mathematics for antiracist learning for second through fifth-grade children. 

This theoretical paper describes how Community-based Mathematical Modeling can advance equity and cultivate civic empathy in elementary school settings. We provide a framework for community-based mathematical modeling instruction consisting of five goals: facilitating connections, fostering engagement, promoting rigor, cultivating civic empathy, and elevating justice. We illustrate how these goals work together to advance equity and cultivate civic empathy through classroom vignettes of community-based modeling lessons. Through this theoretical synthesis, implications for community-based mathematical modeling instruction will be discussed. 

Mathematical modeling can be a lever for equity in the elementary math classroom, as it empowers teachers to build on the knowledge and cultural resources that children bring to the classroom and empowers students to draw on their experiences and identities to inform their mathematical work. To better support this transformative synergy between mathematical modeling and equity-oriented practices, we need a tool to deepen our understanding of variations and potential trajectories of teacher practice. In this report, we briefly describe our process for developing an equity-oriented mathematical modeling classroom observation protocol. We then discuss two sample dimensions from our tool to illustrate our integrated attention to equity-focused and mathematical modeling-specific teaching practices.