Teaching Mathematics to Low-Achieving African American Students

Teaching Mathematics to Low-Achieving African American Students:

Perspectives from African American Teachers[1]

by

Dorothy Y. White

Introduction

Over the past two decades, the underachievement of African American students in mathematics has been well documented (Secada, 1992; Tate, 1997). Tate (1997) examined the mathematics achievement of diverse groups from national trend studies and found that African American and Hispanic students continue to score at significantly lower levels than White and Asian American students. He further reported that while African American students have made achievement gains in recent years, these gains were only on low-level and basic mathematics skills. As Secada (1992) notes, basic skill proficiency is not enough for “true knowledge and mastery of mathematics” (p. 630). In addition, current mathematics education reform calls for fundamental changes in the focus and emphasis of mathematics instruction (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 1991, 2000). This call is in response to the growing need for schools to produce more quantitatively literate citizens. No longer can schools allow large number of students, especially minority students, to leave school underprepared for the technological society in which they will live and work. Instead, all students "need to learn a new set of mathematics basics that enable them to compute fluently and to solve problems creatively and resourcefully" (NCTM, 2000, p. 1).

Several researchers suggest that the poor academic performance of African American students in mathematics is attributable, in part, to their educational experiences in mathematics classrooms (Campbell & Langrall, 1993; Oakes, 1990; Secada, 1992). According to NCTM (2000), "students' understanding of mathematics, their ability to use it to solve problems, and their confidence in, and disposition toward, mathematics are all shaped by the teaching they encounter in school" (p. 17). Researchers that have examined the educational experiences of African American students in mathematics report that African American students are disproportionately placed in low-tracked mathematics classes, that are largely taught by direct instruction, rely heavily on worksheets, and cover less of the curriculum (Oakes, 1990; Secada, 1992). Often, teachers believe control of African American students is the goal of instruction and can best be achieved in teacher-centered classrooms (Stiff, 1997). In these classrooms, teachers spend more time directing students on repetitive tasks, remediation and conformity to rules than on developing students’ mathematical competence and autonomous thinking. As Campbell (1998) suggest "the character of the child is not the issue; the issue is the character of the instruction" (p. 50).

There is a growing body of literature describing teachers that are successfully educating African American students (Campbell & White, 1997; Ladson-Billings, 1997; Malloy, 1997; Sullivan, 1993; White, 2000). These studies demonstrate that "underachieving students can learn mathematics through a system of instruction that integrates higher-order conceptual reasoning with the learning of basic computation skills" (Sullivan, 1993, p. 4). In particular, Malloy (1997) suggests that teachers can create a classroom atmosphere that is conducive to African American students' mathematical learning by (1) allowing students to be active in their learning, (2) encouraging high levels of peer interaction, (3) encouraging group decision making, and (4) avoiding judging students both verbally and nonverbally on the basis of their own biases. Yet, many teachers, some of whom are African American teachers, continue to teach from a "basic skills mastery" approach. The question still remains as to why teachers continue to subscribe to a "basic-skills mastery" approach to teaching mathematics. Is it that teachers are not aware of effective pedagogical practices? or is it that teachers do not agree with the recommendations?

The research on African American teachers suggest that many African American teachers view their work from an educational and cultural perspective (Foster, 1993, 1994, 1997; Irvine, 1989, 2000). These teachers feel a personal responsibility to educate African American students because these students are often misunderstood and disenfranchised from school. Often, this belief translates into instructional practices that focus on basic-skill acquisition before exposing students to problem solving and higher-order thinking. In addition, Foster (1993) found that experienced African American teachers are the most skeptical and least involved in educational reform because of their prior experience with reform. While these studies provide a glimpse of the views of African American teachers in general, we still lack a research base that describes the perspectives of African American teachers' who teach mathematics to low-achieving African American students. Moreover, few studies have examined how African American teachers view mathematics education reform.

This proposal seeks funding to support a research study with two African American elementary teachers. The purpose of the study is to understand the teachers' perspectives of themselves as mathematics teachers, their views on the mathematical needs of African American students, and their reasons for their instructional decisions and practices. The study is designed to also assist teachers in their instructional practices by identifying areas that need improvement and offering suggestions. The teachers have been involved in a school-wide teacher development project designed to help teachers implement the current mathematics education reform recommendations and includes monthly staff development sessions and a mathematics specialist in the school for two weeks. Therefore, this study also attempts to understand how African American teachers view reform and to identify those recommendations that are in conflict with their beliefs about mathematics learning and teaching.

It is essential that mathematics educators begin to address the causes for the low-mathematical performance of African American students by including the perspectives of African American teachers. As the research literature suggests, African American teachers have a unique and cultural perspective on the teaching and learning of African American students (Irvine, 2000). Therefore, this study is designed to give African American teachers a voice in the education of low-achieving African American students. “Voice refers to the discourse that is created when people define their own issues in their own ways, from their own perspectives, using their own terms -- in a word, speak for themselves” (Secada, 1995, p. 156). By giving these teachers a voice, we as mathematics educators can grow professionally and make informed decisions regarding the mathematical achievement of African American students and mathematics education reform efforts.

Research Plan

Research Questions: The research questions that will guide this study are:

I. What are African American teachers' perspectives toward the teaching of mathematics?

a. How do African American teachers view their roles as mathematics teachers?

b. What do African American teachers believe are the mathematical needs of low-achieving African American students?

c. How do African American teachers view the current mathematics education reform recommendations?

II. How do African American teachers approach the teaching of mathematics?

a. What is the mathematical focus of instruction?

b. What influence does the teachers' pedagogy have on students' mathematical learning?

c. What areas of mathematics instruction need improvement?

Participants: The participants of this study are two African American elementary teachers at Barrow Elementary school. The teachers were selected because of their experience and dedication to the education of low-achieving students, the majority of which are African American students. One teacher has taught for 12 years the other for 25 years. Since joining the faculty at UGA, I have worked with these teachers at Barrow Elementary school as part of a mathematics field experience for early childhood education majors. Thus, there is an established partnership with the teachers.

Data Collection: The data for the study will be collected from group interviews, classroom observations, individual interviews, and classroom artifacts. A description of each data source is presented below.

Group Interviews: Three group interviews with both teachers will be conducted during the Spring 2001 semester. The group interviews will provide me and the teachers an opportunity to reflect together about their mathematics teaching and beliefs about mathematics. In particular, the interview questions will focus on the teachers’ views about teaching low-achieving students and their suggestions for improving the status of minority students in mathematics education. The first interview will be conducted in January 2001 to identify the research goals and procedures. Subsequent interviews will be conducted in March and May 2001. However, the exact number of interviews will depend on the teachers needs.

Classroom Observations: Each teacher will be observed teaching mathematics at least eight times during the 2001 school year. On some occasions I will teach mathematics lessons to allow the teachers to observe students' participation and learning. The classroom observations are designed to examine the mathematical focus of instruction, to document students' mathematical thinking and learning, and to identify pedagogical practices that promote and/or hinder students' learning. Classroom observation transcripts, along with field notes written by me and the teachers, will be used to stimulate interview questions by presenting specific examples from classroom lessons.

Individual Interviews: According to NCTM (2000), "to improve their mathematics instruction, teachers must be able to analyze what they and their students are doing and consider how those actions are affecting students' learning" (p. 19). Each participant will be individually interviewed at least eight times during this investigation. The first interview will be conducted to provide background information about the teachers’ educational experiences, mathematical beliefs, and previous mathematics inservice training. Subsequent interviews will be conducted following each classroom observation. The purpose of these interviews is to have the teachers describe their beliefs about their roles as teachers of mathematics, how they believe children learn mathematics, and to reflect on their teaching with respect to student learning. In this study, interviews will be open and tentative with future data collection based on preliminary analyses of collected data from both the classroom observations and previous interviews. examine the relationship between the teachers’ views about teaching mathematics and actual classroom practice

Classroom Artifacts: During the 2001 academic year, students’ classroom assignments, tests and homework will be analyzed to help describe the students’ mathematical knowledge. These classroom artifacts will help describe the mathematical tasks and to assess students' mathematical knowledge and learning. The artifacts will also be used to prompt interview questions.

Data Analysis: The data for this study will be analyzed with qualitative data analysis software (HyperQUAL) using methods of constant comparative analysis. In this type of qualitative analysis, research involves a back-and-forth movement between a phase of thinking and analyzing and a phase of data gathering (Tesch, 1984). In this study, teachers are part of the research design, data collection, and data analysis. Transcripts from the individual and group meetings will be shared with the teachers to help describe their perspectives, to identify instructional practices that are conducive to the students' learning, and to identify areas that need further investigation and understanding. The collected data will be analyzed to identify the shared experiences, beliefs, and concerns among the African-American teachers. Particular attention will be given to their suggestions for improving the mathematical achievement of African American students and educational reform.

Timeline: The study will follow the timeline presented below.

Year 2001 / Jan/
Feb / Mar/
Apr / May/
Jun / Jul/
Aug / Sep/
Oct / Nov/
Dec
Group Interviews and Transcripts / x / x / x
Individual Interviews and Transcripts / x / x / x
Classroom Observations and Transcripts / x / x / x
Other Data collection / x / x / x
Data Analysis / x / x / x / x
Reflection, Planning and Writing / x / x
Final account / x

Future Support

My research interest is to examine and develop effective ways of educating students of color by working with mathematics teachers at all stages of their professional development. My research with inservice mathematics teachers has focused on examining the classroom practices of teachers of culturally-diverse students in mixed-ability mathematics classrooms (Campbell & White, 1997; White, 2000). However, the teachers in these classrooms were all white females. I would like to extend my research by including issues relating to African American teachers in low-ability classrooms. In particular, I wish to examine the interplay between African-American teachers’ beliefs about and practices in teaching mathematics and the current mathematics education reform movement. Therefore, I am committed to pursing this line of research and additional funding to support this endeavor. In particular, I plan to apply for external support from the Spencer Foundation: Small Grant program this summer to continue working with the teachers in the 2001-02 academic year. Future support from USDOE’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement will also be sought to expand this research with more African American teachers. In particular, the Field-initiated Studies Educational Research Grant Program seeks proposals for educational research projects in school settings. I believe the study proposed herein will facilitate my application for the USDOE grant.

REFERENCES

Campbell, P. F. (1998). When the vision confronts the reality: Implementing reform in elementary school mathematics in an urban school district. In C. E. Malloy, & L. Brader-Araje (Eds.), Challenges in the Mathematics Education of African American Children: Proceedings of the Benjamin Banneker Association Leadership Conference (pp. 45-50). Reston, VA: NCTM.

Campbell, P. F, & Langrall, C. (1993). Making equity a reality in classrooms. Arithmetic Teacher, 41(2), 110-113.

Campbell, P. F. & White, D. Y. (1997). Project IMPACT: Influencing and supporting teacher change in predominately minority schools. In E. Fennema & B. Scott-Nelson (Eds.) Mathematics Teachers in Transition (pp. 309-355). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Foster, M. (1997). Black Teachers on Teaching. New York, NY: The New Press.

Foster, M. (1994). The role of community and culture in school reform efforts: Examining the views of African American teachers. Educational Foundations, 8 (2), 5-26.

Foster, M. (1993). Urban African American teachers' views of organizational change: Speculations on the experiences of exemplary teachers. Equity and Excellence in Education, 26 (3), 16-24..

Irvine, J. J. (2000). Seeing with the cultural eye: Different perspectives of African American teachers and researchers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Irvine, J. J. (1989). Beyond role models: An examination of cultural influences on the pedagogical perspectives of Black teachers. Peobody Journal of Education, 66 (4), 51-63.

Ladson-Billings (1997). It doesn't add up: African American students' mathematics achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28 (6), 697-708.

Malloy, C. (1997). Including African American students in the mathematics community. In J. Trentacosta & M.J. Kenney (Eds.) Multicultural and Gender Equity in the Mathematics Classroom: The Gift of Diversity (pp. 23-33). Reston, VA: NCTM.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1991). Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.

Oakes, J. (1990). Multiplying inequities: The effects of race, social class, and tracking on opportunities to learn math and science. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

Secada, W. G. (1995). Social and critical dimensions for equity in mathematics education. In W. G. Secada, E. Fennema, & L. B. Adajian (Eds.), New directions for equity in mathematics education (pp. 146-164). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Secada, W. G. (1992). Race, ethnicity, social class, language and achievement in mathematics. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 623-660). New York: Macmillan.

Stiff, L. (1998). The professional development of teachers of African American students. In C. E. Malloy, & L. Brader-Araje (Eds.), Challenges in the Mathematics Education of African American Children: Proceedings of the Benjamin Banneker Association Leadership Conference (pp. 71-74). Reston, VA: NCTM.

Sullivan, O. (1993). QUASAR work in progress: Math for the thinking students. Ford Foundation Report, 24, 3-7.

Tate, W. F. (1997). Race-ethnicity, ses, gender, and language proficiency trends in mathematics achievement: An update. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28, 652-679.

Tesch, R. (1984). Phenomenological studies: A critical analysis of their nature and procedures. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.

White, D. Y. (2000). Reaching all students mathematically through questioning. In M. Strutchens, M. L. Johnson, & W. F. Tate (Eds.) Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on African Americans (pp. 21-32). Reston, VA: NCTM.

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[1]Paper submitted to the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Georgia for a 2001 Faculty Research Grant.