Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program

Lolita A. Tabron; Richard Kitchen; Brianna Mestas

doi:10.29333/ejmste/11131

Full Text (PDF)

Lolita A. Tabron ¹ , Richard Kitchen ² ^* , Brianna Mestas ³

More Detail

¹ Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Denver, USA² School of Teacher Education, University of Wyoming, USA³ Department of Teaching and Learning Sciences, University of Denver, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Students of color in the United States have historically been denied access to a college-preparatory mathematics education largely due to tracking policies and practices. To address this historical injustice, a partnership was developed between a highly diverse high school and higher education to initiate a collaborative process to detrack the mathematics program at the school. We report the results from empathy interviews conducted with the “Franklin High” administrative team and mathematics teachers. The four primary themes that emerged from the interviews concerned the school’s student diversity, the focus on preparing students to enter the IB course sequence, how detracking must go beyond simply providing equal access, and the importance of the Franklin High staff having an equity-oriented growth mindset. These findings accentuate how successful detracking efforts require stakeholders to have an historical understanding of the racist policies and practices that have led to segregated schools and tracked classrooms.

Keywords

design thinking
detracking mathematics
diversity and equity in mathematics

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2021, Volume 17, Issue 9, Article No: em2000

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

Publication date: 08 Aug 2021

Article Views: 2188

Article Downloads: 1128

Open Access Disclosures References How to cite this article

Disclosure

Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

References

Aguirre, J., & Zavala, M. (2013). Making culturally responsive mathematics teaching explicit: A lesson analysis tool. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8(2), 163-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2013.768518
Aronson, B., & Laughter, J. (2016). The theory and practice of culturally relevant education: A synthesis of research across content areas. Review of Educational Research, 86(1), 163-206. http://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066
Battey, D. (2013). Access to mathematics: A possessive investment in Whiteness. Curriculum Inquiry, 43(3), 332-359. http://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12015
Bertrand, M. (2018). Youth participatory action research and possibilities for students of color in educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(3), 366-395. http://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18761344
Boaler, J. (2011). Changing students’ lives through the de-tracking of urban mathematics classrooms. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 4(1), 7-14. https://doi.org/10.21423/June-v4i1a138
Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P. G. (2015). Learning to improve: How America’s schools can get better at getting better. Harvard Education Press.
Burris, C. C., & Garrity, D. T. (2008). Detracking for excellence and equity. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Celedón-Pattichis, S., & Ramirez, N. G. (Eds.), (2012). Beyond good teaching: Advancing mathematics education for ELLs. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Chambers, T. V. (2009). The “receivement gap”: School tracking policies and the fallacy of the “achievement gap”. The Journal of Negro Education, 78(4), 417-431.
Cobb, F., & Russell, N. M. (2015). Meritocracy or complexity: Problematizing racial disparities in mathematics assessment within the context of curricular structures, practices, and discourse. Journal of Education Policy, 30(5), 631-649. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2014.983551
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th edition). Sage Publications.
Davis, J., & Martin, D. B. (2008). Racism, assessment, and instructional practices: Implications for mathematics teachers of African American students. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 1(1), 10-34. https://doi.org/10.21423/June-v11i1-2a358
Domina, T., Hanselman, P., Hwang, N., & McEachin, A. (2016). Detracking and tracking up: Mathematics course placements in California middle schools, 2003-2013. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 1229-1266. http://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216650405
Duren, R. (2020). Do you hear us? Amplifying alternative pathways for high school pushouts through youth participatory action research [Doctoral Dissertation in Practice, University of Denver]. University of Denver Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/elps_doctoral/13/
Fickel, L. H., Henderson, C., & Price, G. (2017). Language, culture and identity at the nexus of professional learning. Educational Research, 59(4), 391-407. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2017.1373029
Ford, D. Y. (2010). Underrepresentation of culturally different students in gifted education: Reflections about current problems and recommendations for the future. Gifted Child Today, 33(3), 31-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/107621751003300308
Frankenberg, E., Ee, J., Ayscue, J. B., & Orfield, G. (2019). Harming our common future: America’s segregated schools 65 years after Brown. www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu
Gutiérrez, R. (2008). A “gap gazing” fetish in mathematics education? Problematizing research on the achievement gap. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 39, 357-364. https://doi.org/10.2307/40539302
Hamilton, M. L., Smith, L., & Worthington, K. (2008) Fitting the methodology with the research: An exploration of narrative, self-study and auto-ethnography. Studying Teacher Education, 4(1), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/17425960801976321
Joseph, N. M., Haynes, C. M., & Cobb, F. (Eds.), (2016). Interrogating Whiteness and relinquishing power: White faculty’s commitment to racial consciousness in STEM classrooms. Peter Lang Publishing. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-1-4539-1716-9
Kalogrides, D., Loeb, S., & Beteille, T. (2011). Power play? Teacher characteristics and class assignments: (721612011-001) [Data set]. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/e721612011-001
Kapadia, K., & Coca, V. (2007). Keeping new teachers: A first look at the influences of induction in the Chicago Public Schools. Research Report. In Consortium on Chicago School Research. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED498332
Keisu, B-I, & Ahlström, B. (2020). The silent voices: Pupil participation for gender equality and diversity. Educational Research, 62(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2019.1711436
Kitchen, R. S. (2003). Getting real about mathematics education reform in high poverty communities. For the Learning of Mathematics, 23(3), 16-22. https://doi.org/10.2307/40248427
Kitchen, R. S., DePree, J., Celedón-Pattichis, S., & Brinkerhoff, J. (2007). Mathematics education at highly effective schools that serve the poor: Strategies for change. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kitchen, R., Anderson Ridder, S., & Bolz, J. (2016). The legacy continues: “The test” and denying access to a challenging mathematics education for historically marginalized students. Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College, 7(1), 17-26. https://doi.org/10.7916/jmetc.v7i1.784
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035007003
Leonard, J. (2018). Culturally specific pedagogy in the mathematics classroom: Strategies for teachers and students. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351255837
Leonard, J., & Martin, D. B. (Eds.) (2013). Beyond the numbers and toward new discourse: The brilliance of black children in mathematics. Information Age Publishing.
Leonard, J., Brooks, W., Barnes-Johnson, J., & Berry, R. Q. (2010). The nuances and complexities of teaching mathematics for cultural relevance and social justice. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(3), 261-270. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109359927
Martin, D. B. (2013). Race, racial projects, and mathematics education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 44, 316-333. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.44.1.0316
Mauldin, C. (2019). There is no such thing as the voiceless: Positioning youth of color as educational leaders in the elementary school setting. Michigan State University AGEP Science Today Bulletin, 7(1), 26-28. https://grad.msu.edu/sites/default/files/content/AGEP/2019%20AGEP%20Science%20Today%20Bulletin%20Final.pdf#page=26
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Sage Publications, Inc.
Milner, H. R. (2013). Analyzing poverty, learning, and teaching through a critical race theory lens. Review of Research in Education, 37(1), 1-53. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X12459720
Minthrop, R. (2016). Design-based school improvement: A practical guide for education leaders. Harvard Educational Press.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring mathematical success for all.
Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality (2nd edition). Yale University Press.
Oakes, J., Wells, A. S., Jones, M., & Datnow, A. (1997). Detracking: The social construction of ability, cultural politics, and resistance to reform. Teachers College Record, 98(3), 482-510.
Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.982l873k2ht16m77
Patrick, K., Socol, A. R., & Morgan, I. (2020). Inequities in advanced coursework: What’s driving them and what leaders can do. The Education Trust. https://edtrust.org/resource/inequities-in-advanced-coursework/
Riessman, C. K. (2007). Narrative methods for the social sciences. Sage Publications, Inc.
Rothstein, R. (2017). The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. Liveright Publishing.
Stanley, D., & Chambers, T. T. V. (2018). Tracking myself: African American high school students talk about the effects of curricular differentiation. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 13(1), 1-16. http://doi.org/10.22230/ijepl.2018v13n1a748
Tabron, L. A., & Chambers, T. V. (2019). What is being Black and high achieving going to cost me in your school? Students speak out about their educational experiences through a racial opportunity cost lens. The High School Journal, 103(2), 118-138. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2019.0002
Yosso, T. J. (2006). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006
Zion, S., Allen, C. D., & Jean, C. (2015). Enacting a critical pedagogy, influencing teachers’ sociopolitical development. The Urban Review, 47(5), 914-933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0340-y

How to cite this article

APA

Tabron, L. A., Kitchen, R., & Mestas, B. (2021). Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(9), em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

Vancouver

Tabron LA, Kitchen R, Mestas B. Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(9):em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

AMA

Tabron LA, Kitchen R, Mestas B. Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(9), em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

Chicago

Tabron, Lolita A., Richard Kitchen, and Brianna Mestas. "Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2021 17 no. 9 (2021): em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

Harvard

Tabron, L. A., Kitchen, R., and Mestas, B. (2021). Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(9), em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131

MLA

Tabron, Lolita A. et al. "Moving Beyond Equal Access: Detracking a High School’s Mathematics Program". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 17, no. 9, 2021, em2000. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11131