College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Ranza Veltri Torres

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Assistant Professor in Mathematics Education

  • Office Hours

    Mon. and Wed. 10:30am-1:00pm or by appointment. Email rvtorres@umn.edu to schedule.

Ranza Veltri Torres

Areas of interest

Narrative mathematics identity; narrative inquiry; humanizing research in mathematics education; mathematics as a gatekeeper; elementary mathematics education; early algebra

Degrees

PhD Mathematics Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
MA Teaching, University of San Francisco
BS Mathematics, University of San Francisco

Biography

My research takes a humanizing approach to investigating how school mathematics can function as a gatekeeper by centering the stories of math learners and doers. I position narrativizations as a means to (re)imagining school mathematics and addressing the gatekeeper status of math starting in elementary school. My work centers narrative mathematics identity as a framework for thinking about how the math education community can foster inclusive, equitable, and supportive math learning environments in and beyond K-12 settings, particularly for racially minoritized and underrepresented students.

Associations/Memberships

  • Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE)
  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
  • American Education Research Association (AERA)
Publications

Veltri Torres, R. (2025). “I don’t really use math anymore:” Fostering positive narratives about mathematics for historically minoritized learners. Reno, NV: Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. (Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. 2025. Reno, NV.) Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Veltri Torres, R. (2025). (Re)humanizing mathematics for historically minoritized learners: narratives of community college students in noncredit bearing developmental math. Alexandria, VA: Mathematical Association of America. (Twenty-Seventh Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. 2025. Alexandria, VA.) Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Veltri Torres, R. (2025). “...Because I’m not good at it:” Narratives to (re)humanize mathematics for historically minoritized learners. Proceedings of the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting. Denver, CO: American Education Research Association. Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Veltri Torres, R. (2025). Everyone, Everywhere, All at Once: Balancing Mothering, Scholaring and Personhood as a Mother-Scholar of Color. Proceedings of the 2025 Faculty Women of Color in the Academy Annual Conference. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
       
Sung, Y., Stephens, A. C., Veltri Torres, R., Strachota, S., Blanton, M., Murphy Gardiner, A., Stroud, R., & Knuth, E. (2024). Teacher use of multimodal signs to support kindergarten students’ developing understanding of mathematical equivalence. Mathematics Education Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-024-00508-x 

Strachota, S., Stephens, A., Morton, K., Veltri Torres, R., Blanton, M., Gardiner, A. M., . . . Knuth, E. (2023). How tools mediate elementary students’ algebraic reasoning about evens and odds. Mathematics Education Research Journal.  https://doi: 10.1007/s13394-023-00457-x  

Stephens, A., Sung, Y., Strachota, S., Veltri Torres, R., Morton, K., Gardiner, A. M., . . . Stroud, R. (2022). The role of balance scales in supporting productive thinking about equations among diverse learners. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 24(1), 1-18.  doi: 10.1080/10986065.2020.1793055

Sung, Y., Stephens, A., Veltri Torres, R., Strachota, S., Blanton, M., Gardiner, A. M., . . . Stroud, R. (2022). Teacher language and gesture in an intervention focused on developing kindergarteners' understandings of the equal sign.. Nashville, TN: North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. (Forty-fourth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. 2022. Nashville, TN: Middle Tennessee State University.) Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Veltri Torres, R. (2022). Math as a gatekeeper: Narrative identity of one community college student in non-credit bearing remedial math.. Nashville, TN: North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. (Forty-fourth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. 2022. Nashville, TN.) Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Stephens, A., Veltri Torres, R., Sung, Y., Strachota, S., Murphy Gardiner, A., Blanton, M., . . . Knuth, E. (2021). From “You have to have three numbers and a plus sign” to “It’s the exact same thing”: K–1 students learn to think relationally about equations. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 62, 100871.  doi: 10.1016/j.jmathb.2021.100871

Strachota, S., Morton, K., Veltri Torres, R., Stephens, A., Sung, Y., Gardiner, A. M., . . . Knuth, E. (2021). Generalizing about even and odd numbers. Shanghai: International Congress on Mathematical Education. (14th Annual Conference of the International Congress on Mathematical Education. 2021. Shanghai, China.) Peer-reviewed/refereed.

Veltri Torres, R., Prough, S., Strachota, S., University of Wisconsin-Madison, A., Sung, Y., Gardiner, A., . . . Knuth, E. (2019). Describing the Unknown: Moving Toward Variable Notation and Algebraic Thinking in Kindergarten. Proceedings of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting.

Veltri Torres, R., Prough, S., Strachota, S., Stephens, A., Sung, Y., Gardiner, A., Blanton, M., & Knuth, E., (2019). Describing the unknown: Moving toward variable notation and algebraic thinking in kindergarten. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/1434601