This opening article, like the other articles in this special issue, is situated in scholarship that attempts to understand the racialized nature of mathematics education in the United States and to examine the racial identities of students and teachers in the context of school mathematics. It is designed to respond to the current (mathematics) education policy context that largely ignores teachers’ experiential and cultural knowledge while stressing the importance of teachers’ content knowledge and academic achievement.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study
This article presents theoretical perspectives and research questions concerning the knowledge and other resources that African American teachers bring to teaching mathematics, perspectives and questions that are taken up in the five subsequent articles in this special issue.
Setting
The cases developed in this special issue were developed from observations of the introductory algebra classes of, and interviews with, two well-respected African American teachers in one neighborhood high school in a large urban school district that serves a predominantly African American student population.
Research Design
This opening article frames two case study papers and two analysis papers that report on findings from a large-scale qualitative study of the racialized identity and instructional approaches of two of the six African American mathematics teachers studied in the Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning Algebra 1 Case Studies Project.
Conclusions/Recommendations
Together with the other articles in this special issue, this work contributes to the development of more sophisticated attempts to integrate understandings of race into the work of the mathematics education community. It challenges taken-for-granted notions of the knowledge base and resources needed to be an effective mathematics teacher of African American students in underresourced large urban schools.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AloeA., & BeckerB. (2009). Teacher verbal ability and school outcomes: Where is the evidence?Educational Researcher, 38(8), 612–624.
2.
AndrewM., CobbC., & GiampietroP. (2005). Verbal ability and teacher effectiveness. Journal of Teacher Education56(4), 343–354.
3.
AuW. (2009). Unequal by design: High-stakes testing and the standardization of inequality. New York, NY: Routledge.
4.
BallengerC. (1992). Teaching and practice. Harvard Educational Review, 62(2), 199–209.
5.
BellD. A. (1993). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism.New York, NY: Basic Books.
6.
BirkyG. D., ChazanD., & Farlow MorrisK. (2013). In search of coherence and meaning: Madison Morgan's experiences and motivations as an African American learner and teacher. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
7.
BoalerJ. (2006) Urban success: A multidimensional mathematics approach with equitable outcomes. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(5), 364–369.
8.
BoalerJ., & StaplesM. (2008). Creating mathematical futures through approach: The case of Railside School. Teachers College Record, 110(3), 608–645.
BoydD., GrossmanP., LankfordH., LoebS., & WyckoffJ. (2006). How changes in entry requirements alter the teacher workforce and affect student achievement. Education Finance and Policy, 1(2), 176–216.
11.
BoydD., GrossmanP., LankfordH., LoebS., & WyckoffJ. (2009). Teacher preparation and student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 416–440.
12.
BoydD., LankfordH., LoebS., RockoffJ., & WyckoffJ. (2008). The narrowing gap in New York City teacher qualifications and its implications for student achievement in high-poverty schools. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 25(4), 793–818.
13.
BoykinA. W. (1986). The triple quandary and the schooling of Afro American children. In NeisserU. (Ed.), The school achievement of minority children (pp. 57–92). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
14.
BrantlingerA., CooleyL., & BrantlingerE. (2010). Families, values, and class relations: The politics of alternative certification. In AppleM., BallS., & GandinL. (Eds.), International handbook of the sociology of education: Critical research for social justice (pp. 179–189). New York: Routledge.
15.
BrantlingerA., & SmithB. (in press). Alternative teacher certification and the new professionalism: The preparation of mathematics teachers in the New York City Teaching Fellows program. Teachers College Record.
16.
BritzmanD. P. (1993). The terrible problem of knowing thyself: Toward a poststructuralist account of teacher identity. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 9, 23–46.
17.
BrownD. F. (2003). Urban teachers’ use of culturally responsive management strategies. Theory Into Practice, 42(4), 277–282.
18.
CampbellP. F., NishioM., SmithT. M., ClarkL. M., ConantD., RustA., … GriffinM. (2011, April). The relationship between teachers’ mathematical content and pedagogical knowledge, teachers’ perceptions, and student achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the research presession of the Special Interest Group for Research in Mathematics Education and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Indianapolis, IN.
19.
CashinC. (2004). The failure of integration: How race and class are undermining the American dream. Cambridge, MA: PublicAffairs.
20.
Center on Education Policy. (2009). State high school exit exams: Trends in test programs, alternate pathways, and pass rates. Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy. Retrieved from http://www.cep-dc.org/
21.
ChazanD. (2000) Beyond formulas in mathematics and teaching: Dynamics of the high school algebra classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
22.
ClarkL. (2012). Conceptualizing teachers’ knowledge of students’ mathematics identity formation and development. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland, College Park. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1903/12410
23.
ClarkL., BadertscherE., & NappC. (2012). African American mathematics teachers as agents in their African American students’ mathematics identity formation. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
24.
ClarkL., JohnsonW., & ChazanD. (2009) Researching African American mathematics teachers of African American students: Conceptual and methodological considerations. In MartinD. B. (Ed.), Mathematics teaching, learning, and liberation in the lives of Black children (pp. 39–62). New York, NY: Routledge.
25.
ClarkL. M., JonesT., & DavisJ. (2013). Conceptualizing the African American mathematics teacher as a key figure in the African American education historical narrative. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
26.
CobbP., & JacksonK. (2013). Lessons for mathematics education from the practices of African American mathematics teachers. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
27.
CohenD. K. (2011). Teaching and its predicaments. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
CollopyR. (2003). Curriculum materials as a professional development tool: How a mathematics textbook affected two teachers’ learning. Elementary School Journal, 103(3), 287–311.
29.
ConleyD. (1999). Being Black, living in the red: Race, wealth, and social policy in America. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
30.
ConnellyM., & ClandininJ. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2–14.
31.
CookS. D., & BrownJ. S. (1999). Bridging epistemologies: The generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science, 10(4), 381–400.
32.
Council of Great City Schools. (2009). Council of the Great City Schools High School Reform Survey, School Year 2006-2007. Retrieved from http://www.cgcs.org/publications/
33.
CwiklaJ. (2007). The trials of a poor middle school trying to catch up in mathematics: Teachers’ multiple communities of practice and the boundary encounters. Education and Urban Society, 39(4), 554–583.
34.
Darling-HammondL. (1994). Who will speak for the children? How ‘Teach for America’ hurts urban schools and students. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 21–34.
35.
DeBoerG., MorrisK., RosemanJ. E., WilsonL., CapraroM. M., CapraroR., … ManonJ. (2004). Research issues in the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning through professional development. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. Retrieved from http://www.project2061.org/pub-lications/articles/IERI/aera2004.htm
36.
DeeT. S. (2004). Teachers, race, and student achievement in a randomized experiment. Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(1), 195–210.
37.
DelpitL. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280–298.
38.
DevineJ. (1996). Maximum security: The culture of violence in inner-city schools.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
39.
DonoghueE., BrantlingerA., MeagherM., & CooleyL., (2008, March). Teaching mathematics in urban schools: The New York City Teaching Fellows program. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
40.
DrakeC. (2006). Turning points: Using teachers’ mathematics life stories to understand the implementation of mathematics education reform. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 9(6), 579–608.
41.
Du BoisW. E. B. (1903). The souls of Black folk. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
42.
EllisonR. (1952). Invisible man. New York, NY: Random House.
43.
FarrS. (2010). Teaching as leadership: The highly effective teacher's guide to closing the achievement gap. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
44.
FergusonR. F. (1998). Teachers’ perceptions and expectations and the Black-White test score gap. In JencksC. & PhillipsM. (Eds.), The Black-White test score gap (pp. 217–317). Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press.
45.
ForbesJ. (1970). Reaction to survey of projects. Report of a conference on mathematics education in inner city schools. School Mathematics Study Group, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
46.
GeeJ. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25(1), 99–125.
47.
GonzálezN., MollL. C., & AmantiC. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Hillsdale, NJ: Routledge.
GutiérrezR. (1999). Advancing urban Latina/o youth in mathematics: Lessons from an effective high school mathematics department. Urban Review, 31(3), 263–281.
54.
GutiérrezR. (2000). Advancing African American, urban youth in mathematics: Unpacking the success of one mathematics department. American Journal of Education, 109(1), 63–111.
55.
GutsteinE. (2003). Teaching and learning mathematic for social justice in an urban, Latino school. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 34(1), 37–73.
56.
GutsteinE. (2006). Reading and writing the world with mathematics: Toward a pedagogy for social justice.New York, NY: Routledge.
57.
HabermanM. (1991). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 73(4), 290–294.
58.
HammernessK. (2003). Learning to hope, or hoping to learn? The role of vision in the early professional lives of teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(1), 43–56.
59.
HanlonB. (2009). Once the American dream: Inner-ring suburbs of the metropolitan United States. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
60.
HeathS. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
61.
HeidM. K. (2008, July). Mathematical knowledge for secondary school mathematics teaching. Paper presented at the quadrennial meeting of the International Congress on Mathematical Education, Monterrey, Mexico. Retrieved from http://tsg.icme11.org/tsg/show/30
62.
HerbstP., NachlieliT., & ChazanD. (2011). Studying the practical rationality of mathematics teaching: What goes into ‘installing’ a theorem in geometry?Cognition and Instruction, 29(2), 1–38.
63.
HiebertJ., & MorrisA. K. (2009). Building a knowledge base for teacher education: An experience in K–8 mathematics teacher preparation. Elementary School Journal, 109(5), 475–490.
64.
HillH. C., BallD. L., & SchillingS. G. (2008). Unpacking ‘pedagogical content knowledge’: Conceptualizing and measuring teachers’ topic-specific knowledge of students. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 39(4), 372–400.
65.
HillH. C., RowanB., & BallD. L. (2005). Effects of teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 371–406.
66.
HillH. C., SchillingS. G., & BallD. L. (2004). Developing measures of teachers’ mathematics knowledge for teaching. Elementary School Journal, 105(1), 11–30.
67.
HollandD., LachicotteW., SkinnerD., & CainC. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
68.
JohnsonW., NyamekyeF., ChazanD., & RosenthalB. (2013). Teaching with speeches: A Black teacher who uses the mathematics classroom to prepare students for life. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
69.
KonoldC., PollatsekA., WellA., & GagnonA. (1997). Students analyzing data: Research of critical barriers. In GarfieldJ. B. & BurrillG. (Eds.), Research on the role of technology in teaching and learning statistics: Proceedings of the 1996 IASE Round Table Conference (pp. 151–167). Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute.
70.
KoppW. (2001). One day, all children: The unlikely triumph of Teach for America and what I learned along the way. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.
71.
KozolJ. (2005). Confections of apartheid: A stick-and-carrot pedagogy for the children of our inner-city poor. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(4), 264–275.
JohnsonW., NyamekyeF., ChazanD., & RosenthalB. (2013). Teaching with speeches: A Black teacher who uses the mathematics classroom to prepare students for life. Teachers College Record, 115(2).
74.
LabovW. (1972). Language in the inner city: Studies in Black English vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
75.
Ladson-BillingsG. J. (1999). Preparing teachers for diverse student populations: A critical race theory perspective. Review of Research in Education, 24, 211–247.
76.
LampertM. (2001). Teaching problems and the problems of teaching. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
77.
LederG. C., PehkonenE., & TörnerG. (Eds.). (2003). Beliefs: A hidden variable in mathematics education?Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
78.
LeeC.D. (2004). Bridging home and school literacies: Models for culturally responsive teaching, a case for African American English. In FloodJ., HeathS. B., & LappD. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (pp. 334–345). New York, NY: Macmillan.
79.
Lelyveld, J., & correspondents of The New York Times. (2002). How race is lived in America. New York, NY: Macmillan.
80.
LermanS. (2000). The social turn in mathematics education research. In BoalerJ. (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 19–44). Westport, CT: Ablex.
LincolnC. E., & MamiyaL. (1990). The Black Church in the African American experience. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
83.
LipskyM. (1983). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
84.
LiuE., RosensteinJ. G., SwanA. E., & KhalilD. (2008). When districts encounter teacher shortages: The challenges of recruiting and retaining mathematics teachers in urban districts. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 7(3), 296–323.
85.
LloydG., & WilsonM. (1998). Supporting innovation: The impact of a teacher's conceptions of functions on his implementation of a reform curriculum. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 29(3), 248–274.
86.
MarcusR., & ChazanD. (2010). Teachers’ knowledge of mathematics in action: Helping students think about solving equations in the one-variable-first algebra curriculum. In LeikinR. & ZaskisR. (Eds.), Learning through teaching: Developing mathematics teachers’ knowledge and expertise in practice (pp. 169–187). New York, NY: Springer.
87.
MartinD. B. (2000). Mathematics success and failure among African-American youth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
88.
MartinD. (2006). Mathematics learning and participation in African American context: The Co-construction of identity in two Intersecting realms of experience. In NasirN. & CobbP. (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas (pp. 146–158). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
89.
MartinD. B. (2007). Beyond missionaries or cannibals: Who should teach mathematics to African American children?High School Journal, 91(1), 6.
90.
MartinD. (2009). Researching race in mathematics education. Teachers College Record, 111(2), 295–338.
91.
MatthewsJ. (1988). Escalante: The best teacher in America. New York, NY: Holt.
92.
McKinsey & Company. (2010). Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching. Washington, DC: Author.
93.
McNaughtM. D., TarrJ. E., & SearsR. (2010, April). Conceptualizing and measuring fidelity of implementation of secondary mathematics textbooks: Results of a three-year study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO. Retrieved from http://cosmic.missouri.edu/aera10
94.
MendelsohnM. (1970). One state education department's activities concerned with improving mathematics education in the inner city schools. School Mathematics Study Group, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
95.
MetzM. (1993). Teachers’ ultimate dependence on their students. In LittleJ. W. & McLaughlinM. W. (Eds.), Teachers’ work: Individuals, colleagues, and contexts (pp. 104–136). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
96.
MillerK. (1914). Out of the house of bondage. New York, NY: Neale.
97.
MorrisonT. (1970). The bluest eye. New York, NY: Random House.
98.
NasirN. S. (2007). Identity, goals, and learning: The case of basketball mathematics. In NasirN. S. & CobbP. (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas (pp. 130–143). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
99.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (1991). Professional standards for teaching mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
100.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
101.
The New Teacher Project. (2005). Teaching for Student Achievement (TfSA) guidebook. New York, NY: Author.
PattonM. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
108.
PeressiniD., BorkoH., RomagnanoL., KnuthE., & WillisC. (2004). A conceptual framework for learning to teach secondary mathematics: A situative perspective. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 56(1), 67–96.
109.
PonteJ. P. D., & ChapmanO. (2008). Preservice mathematics teachers’ knowledge and development. In EnglishL. D. (Ed.), Handbook of international research in mathematics education (2nd ed., pp. 223–261). New York, NY: Routledge.
110.
PopkewitzT. (1998). Struggling for the soul: The politics of schooling and the construction of the teacher.New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
111.
PrinceC. D. (2003). Higher pay in hard-to-staff schools: The case for financial incentives. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
112.
RothsteinR. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic, and educational reform to close the Black-White achievement gap. New York, NY: Economic Policy Institute and Teachers College.
113.
RowanB., CamburnE., & CorrentiR. (2004). Using teacher logs to measure the enacted curriculum: A study of literacy teaching in third-grade classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 105(1), 75–101.
114.
ScribnerJ. P., & AkibaM. (2010). Exploring the relationship between prior career experience and instructional quality among mathematics and science teachers in alternative teacher certification programs. Educational Policy, 24(4), 602–627.
115.
ShapiroT. M. (2005). The hidden cost of being African American: How wealth perpetuates inequality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
116.
SilverE. A., SmithM. S., & NelsonB. S. (1995). The QUASAR Project: Equity concerns meet mathematics education reform in the middle school. In SecadaW. G., FennemaE., & ByrdL. (Eds.), New directions for equity in mathematics education (pp. 9–56). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Urban Teacher Collaborative. (2000). The urban teacher challenge: Teacher demand and supply in the Great City schools. New York, NY: Author.
119.
VeltriB. T. (2010). Learning on other people's kids: Becoming a Teach for America teacher. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
120.
WalshK., & JacobsS. (2007). Alternative certification isn't alternative. Washington, DC: Thomas Fordham Institute and National Council on Teacher Quality.
121.
WebbN., & RombergT. (1994). Reforming mathematics education in America's cities: The Urban Mathematics Collaborative Project. Ways of Knowing in Science Series. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
122.
WeinerL. (1999). Urban teaching: The essentials.New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
123.
WengerE. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
124.
WilliamsP. (1997). Seeing a color-blind future: The paradox of race. New York, NY: Noonday Press.
