Profile for Rosalie DeFino
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Rosalie DeFino
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Assistant Professor
Educational Studies
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Rosalie DeFino Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Assistant Professor
Educational Studies
Specialty area(s)
Math Education
Teacher Education
Elementary Teaching
Brief biography
Dr. Rosalie (Rosie) DeFino is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse specializing in elementary math education. She began her career as an elementary teacher in Chicago, IL and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. She is interested in how teachers and teacher candidates can learn to think critically about systemic inequities, especially issues of race and racism, as they develop their math teaching practice.
Current courses at UWL
ECE 422: Math Methods - Early Childhood/Elementary Education
EDS 422: Math Methods
EDS 446: Field Experience II - Middle Level
Education
2022 Ph.D. in Educational Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
2010 M.A.T. in Elementary Education, Urban Teacher Education Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2009 B.A. in Philosophy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Career
Teaching history
EDS 492: Student Teaching Seminar
EDS 445: Field Experience II EC-MC
Professional history
2022-Present: Assistant Professor at UW La Crosse
2016-2022: Doctoral studies at University of Michigan, Graduate Student Instructor and Graduate Student Research Assistant
2014-2016: Elementary Math and Science teacher in Chicago, IL
2013-2014: Writer for the 4th edition of Fifth Grade Everyday Mathematics
2010-2013: Elementary teacher in Chicago, IL
Research and publishing
DeFino, R. (2025). Making equity considerations explicit with mathematics discussion approximations: Reflecting on attempts and challenges. In C. W. Lee, L. Bondurant, B. Sapkota, & H. Howell (Eds.), Promoting equity in approximations of practice for mathematics teachers. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-1164-6
DeFino, R. (2022). Race evasion and race cognizance in elementary math teaching: A study of white teacher candidates’ learning, discourse, and early practice [Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan]. Deep Blue. https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/172643
Boerst, T., Shaughnessy, M., DeFino, R., Blunk, M., Farmer, S. O., Pfaff, E., & Pynes, D.(2020). Preparing teachers to formatively assess: Connecting the initial capabilities of preservice teachers with visions of teaching practice. In Martin, C., Polly, D., & Lambert, R.(Eds). Handbook of Research on Formative Assessment in PreK through Elementary Classrooms (pp. 89-116). IGI Global. https://doi.org.10.4018/978-1-7998-0323-2.ch005
Shaughnessy, M., DeFino, R., Pfaff, E., & Blunk, M. (2020). I think I made a mistake: How do prospective teachers elicit the thinking of a student who has made a mistake? Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-020-09461-5
Kudos
published
presented