Preparation and The Real World of Education: How Prospective Teachers Grapple with Using Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices in the Age of Standardized Testing

Abstract

The most highlighted provision and consequence of the reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, is obsessive practices of assessing students across the United States (U.S.). Despite newly named policies, including Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA) of 2015, which governs current U.S. K-12 education standards, concerns over NCLB’s unprecedented fixation on high stakes testing remain acute for many school districts. This manuscript examines the struggles of four preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PMTs) who grappled with enacting culturally responsive teaching practices at schools that aimed to meet accountability standards.

Keywords

culturally responsive teaching standardized testing teacher preparation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Achinstein

Ogawa

. (2012). New teachers of color and culturally responsive teaching in an era of educational accountability: Caught in a double bind. Journal of Educational Change, 13(1), 1–39.doi:10.1007/s10833-011-9165-y

Aguirre

J. M.

del Rosario Zavala

. (2013). Making culturally responsive mathematics teaching explicit: A lesson analysis tool. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8(2), 163–190.doi:10.1080/1554480X.2013.768518

. (2007). High-stakes testing and curricular control: A qualitative metasynthesis. Educational Researcher, 36(5), 258–267.doi:10.3102/0013189X07306523

Battey

. (2013). “Good” mathematics teaching for students of color and those in poverty: The importance of relational interactions within instruction. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 82(1), 125–144.doi:10.1007/s10649-012-9412-z

Bauml

. (2015). Beginning primary teachers’ experiences with curriculum guides and pacing calendars for math and science instruction. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 29(3), 390–409.doi:10.1080/02568543.2015.1040565

Bondy

Tutak

F. A.

Adams

. (2011). Critical pedagogy for critical mathematics education. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science & Technology, 42(1), 65–74.

Bonner

E. P.

Adams

T. L

. (2012). Culturally responsive teaching in the context of mathematics: A grounded theory case study. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15(1), 25–38.doi:10.1007/s10857-011-9198-4

Brown-Jeffy

. (2009). School effects: Examining the race gap in mathematics achievement. Journal of African American Studies, 13(4), 388–405.doi:10.1007/s12111-008-9056-3

Brunn-Bevel

R. J.

Byrd

W. C

. (2015). The foundation of racial disparities in the standardized testing era. Humanity & Society, 39(4), 419–448.doi:10.1177/0160597615603750

10.

Burnette

. (2016). Senator Lamar Alexander tells governors to hold their ground on ESSA. Education Week . Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2016/02/lamar_alexander.html

11.

Chan

. (2013). Teacher experiences of culture in the curriculum. In Flinders

D. J.

Thornton

S. J.

(Eds.), The Curriculum Studies Reader (pp. 301–314). New York, NY: Routledge.

12.

Charmaz

. (2006). Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

13.

Cobb

McClain

de Silva Lamberg

Dean

Lamberg

. (2003). Situating teachers’ instructional practices in the institutional setting of the school and district. Educational Researcher, 32(6), 13–24.doi:10.3102/0013189X032006013

14.

Corbin

Strauss

. (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

15.

Cotton

. (2010). Diamonds in a skull: Upacking pedagogy with beginning teachers. In Walshaw

(Ed.), Unpacking Pedagogy: New Perspectives for Mathematics Classrooms (pp. 43–63). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

16.

Darling-Hammond

. (2010). The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

17.

Datnow

Castellano

. (2000). Teachers’ responses to success for all: How beliefs, experiences, and adaptations shape implementation. American Educational Research Journal, 37(3), 775–799.doi:10.3102/00028312037003775

18.

David

J. L.

Greene

. (2007). Improving Mathematics Instruction in Los Angeles High Schools: An Evaluation of the PRISMA Pilot Program. Palo Alto, CA: Bay Area Research Group.

19.

Denzin

N. K.

Lincoln

Y. S

. (2003). Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

20.

Dixon

. (2018). The testing emperor finally has no clothes. Education Digest, 83(9), 45–50.

21.

Ford

D. Y

. (2014). Segregation and the underrepresentation of Blacks and Hispanics in gifted education: Social inequality and deficit paradigms. Roeper Review, 36(3), 143–154.

22.

Ford

D. Y

. (2015). Multicultural issues. Gifted Child Today, 38(3), 187–191.doi:10.1177/1076217515583745

23.

Ford

D. Y.

King

J. R. A

. (2014). No Blacks allowed: Segregated gifted education in the context of Brown v. Board of Education. Journal of Negro Education, 83(3), 300–310.doi:10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.3.0300

24.

Frank

TJ.

Williams

. (2016). “Pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions of ability, engagement, and motivation during field experiences.” Conference Papers - Psychology of Mathematics & Education of North America 727–734.

25.

Gail

L. T.

Allen

T. G

. (2012). Four effects of the high-stakes testing movement on African American K-12 students., 218.

26.

Gay

. (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

27.

Gay

. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106–116.doi:10.1177/0022487102053002003

28.

George

J. A

. (2015). Stereotype and school pushout: Race, gender, and discipline disparities. Arkansas Law Review, 68(1), 101–129. 1968-present.

29.

Gibbs

G. R

. (2007). Thematic Coding and Categorizing. Analyzing Qualitative Data. London: SAGE Publications, Ltd.

30.

Greer

Mukhopadhyay

Powell

Nelson-Barber

. (2009). Cuturally responsive mathematics education. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.

31.

Gregory

Hafen

C. A.

Ruzek

Mikami

A. Y.

Allen

J. P.

Pianta

R. C

. (2016). Closing the racial discipline gap in classrooms by changing teacher practice. School Psychology Review, 45(2), 171–191.doi:10.17105/SPR45-2.171-191

32.

Gutstein

. (2012). Reflections on teaching and learning mathematics for social justice in urban schools. In Wager

A. A.

Stinson

D. W.

(Eds.), Teaching mathematics for social justice: Conversations with educators (pp. 63–78). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

33.

Hart

C. M. D.

Figlio

D. N

. (2015). School accountability and school choice: Effects on student selection across schools. National Tax Journal, 68(3S), 875–900.doi:10.17310/ntj.2015.3S.07

34.

Hernandez

C. M.

Morales

A. R.

Shroyer

M. G

. (2013). The development of a model of culturally responsive science and mathematics teaching. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 8(4), 803–820.doi:10.1007/s11422-013-9544-1

35.

Irvine

Armento

Causey

Jones

Frasher

Weinburgh

. (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Lesson Planning for Elementary and Middle Grades. New York: McGraw Hill.

36.

Irvine

. (2003). Educating Teachers For Diversity. New York: Teachers College Press.

37.

Irvine

. (2010). Culturally relevant pedagogy. Education Digest, 75(8), 57–61.

38.

Jackson

. (2013). Elementary mathmatics teachers’ knowledge of equity pedagogy. Current Issues in Education, 16(1), 1–15.

39.

Jett

. (2012). Let’s produce culturally responsive pedagogues on deck. Democracy & Education, 20(2).

40.

Jett

. (2013). Culturally responsive collegiate mathematics education: Implications for African American students. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching & Learning, 3(2), 102–116.

41.

Kitchen

Ridder

Bolz

. (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.

42.

Ladson-Billings

. (2009). The meaning of culture in mathematics education. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved from http://www.education.umd.edu/MIMAUE/institute/symposium/2009/Featured%20Speakers/The_Meaning_of_CULTURE_in_mathed.pdf

43.

Ladson-Billings

. (1995a). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491.doi:10.3102/00028312032003465

44.

Ladson‐Billings

. (1995b). But that’s just good teaching: The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159–165.doi:10.1080/00405849509543675

45.

Leonard

. (2008). Culturally Specific Pedagogy in the Mathematics Classroom: Strategies for Teachers and Students. New York, NY: Routledge.

46.

Leonard

Moore

C. M

. (2014). Learning to enact social justice pedagogy in mathematics classrooms. Action in Teacher Education, 36(1), 76–95.doi:10.1080/01626620.2013.861371

47.

Losen

D. J

. (2013). Discipline policies, successful schools, racial justice, and the law. Family Court Review, 51(3), 388–400.doi:10.1111/fcre.12035

48.

Matthews

L. E.

Jones

S. M.

Parker

Y. A

. (2013). Advancing a framework for culturally relevant, cognitively demanding mathematics tasks. In Leonard

Martin

D. B.

(Eds.), The Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers and Toward a New Discourse (pp. 123–150). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

49.

Maxwell

L. A

. (2014). U.S. school enrollment hits majority-minority milestone. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/08/20/01demographics.h34.html

50.

Mccray

C. R.

Beachum

F. D.

Yawn

C. D

. (2015). Saving our future by reducing suspensions and expulsions among African American males. Journal of School Leadership, 25(2), 345–367.doi:10.1177/105268461502500206

51.

Mehrens

W. A.

Kaminski

. (1989). Methods for improving standardized test scores: Fruitful, fruitless, or fraudulent? Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 8(1), 14–22.doi:10.1111/j.1745-3992.1989.tb00304.x

52.

Meiners

E. R

. (2007). Right to Be Hostile: Schools, Prisons, and the Making of Public Enemies. New York, NY: Routledge.

53.

Modica

. (2015). “My skin color stops me from leading": Tracking, identity, and student dynamics in a racially mixed school. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 17(3), 76–90.doi:10.18251/ijme.v17i3.1030

54.

Nasir

N. S

. (2016). Why should mathematics educators care about race and culture? Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 9(1), 7–18.

55.

NCES . (2016). U S. Department of education national center for education statistics. Digest of Education Statistics.

56.

J. C

. (2006). Understanding the impact of accountability on preservice teachers’ decisions about where to teach. The Urban Review, 38(5), 353–372.

57.

Noguera

. (2003a). City Schools and the American Dream. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

58.

Noguera

. (2003b). The trouble with black boys: The role and influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males. Urban Education, 38(4), 431–459.

59.

Ostrander

R. R

. (2015). School funding: Inequality in district funding and the disparate impact on urban and migrant school children. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, 1, 271–295.

60.

Porter

T. R

. (2015). The school-to-prison pipeline: The business side of incarcerating, not educating, students in public schools. Arkansas Law Review, 68, 55.

61.

Roulston

. (2010). Reflective Interviewing. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.

62.

Rubel

L. H.

Chu

. (2012). Reinscribing urban: Teaching high school mathematics in low income, urban communities of color. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15(1), 39–52.doi:10.1007/s10857-011-9200-1

63.

Saldana

. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

64.

Simmons-Reed

Cartledge

. (2014). School discipline disproportionality: Culturally competent interventions for African American males. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 4(2), 95–109.

65.

Sleeter

. (2011). An agenda to strengthen culturally responsive pedagogy. English Teaching Practice and Critique, 10(2), 7–23.

66.

Sleeter

Stillman

. (2013). Standardizing knowledge in a multicultural society. In Flinders

D. J.

Thornton

S. J.

(Eds.), The Curriculum Studies Reader (pp. 253–268). New York, NY: Routledge.

67.

Stake

R. E

. (2010). Qualitative Research: Studying How Things Work. New York: The Guilford Press.

68.

Stotsky

. (2016). Testing limits. Academic Questions, 29(3), 285–298.doi:10.1007/s12129-016-9578-4

69.

Timmons-Brown

Warner

. (2016). Using a conference workshop setting to engage mathematics teachers in culturally relevant pedagogy. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 9(1), 19–47.

70.

Ukpokodu

O. N

. (2011). How do i teach mathematics in a culturally responsive way: Identifying empowering teaching practices. Multicultural Education, 47–56.

71.

Valenzuela

. (2013). Subtractive schooling, caring relations, and social capital in the schooling of U.S.-Mexican youth. In Flinders

D. J.

Thornton

S. J.

(Eds.), The Curriculum Studies Reader (4th ed. pp. 289–300). New York, NY: Routledge. (Reprinted from Beyond silenced voices: Class, race, and gender in United States schools, Revised edition, L. Weis and M. Fine (Eds.), State University of New York Press, 1999).

72.

Villegas

A. M.

Lucas

. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20–32.

73.

Villegas

A. M.

Irvine

J. J

. (2010). Diversifying the teaching force: An examination of major arguments. The Urban Review, 42(3), 175–192.doi:10.1007/s11256-010-0150-1

74.

Villegas

A. N. A. M.

Lucas

T. F

. (2004). Diversifying the teacher workforce: A retrospective and prospective analysis. In Smylie

M. A.

Miretky

(Eds.), Developing the Teacher Workforce: 103rd Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (Vol. 103, pp. 70–104). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.doi:10.1111/j.1744-7984.2004.tb00031.x

75.

Waddell

L. R

. (2014). Using culturally ambitious teaching practices to support urban mathematics teaching and learning. Journal of Praxis in Multicultural Education, 8(2), 1–21.doi:10.9741/2161-2978.1069

76.

Wager

A. A

. (2012). Incorporating out-of-school mathematics: From cultural context to embedded practice. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15(1), 9–23.doi:10.1007/s10857-011-9199-3

77.

Welsh

M. E.

Eastwood

D’Agostino

. (2014). Conceptualizing teaching to the test under standards-based reform. Applied Measurement in Education, 27(2), 98–114.doi:10.1080/08957347.2014.880439

78.

Wiliam

. (2010). Standardized testing and school accountability. Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 107–122.doi:10.1080/00461521003703060

79.

Wong

V. C.

Wing

Martin

Krishnamachari

. (2018). Did states use implementation discretion to reduce the stringency of NCLB? Evidence from a database of state regulations. Educational Researcher, 47(1), 9–33.doi:10.3102/0013189X17743230