Increasing the Number of Minority Students in Accelerated Classes

Alex Budden, Micah Ward, Courtney ODonovan, Adrianna Jelesnianska

Clicker Question 1
What was the percentage of minority students in your entire high school? A. 0-10% B. 20% C. 30% D. 50% E. 70+% What was the percentage of minority students in your honors classes? A. 0-10% B. 20% C. 30% D. 50% E. 70+%

"In 1997, 33 of every 1,000 white 12th graders enrolled in this course [AP Calculus], but only 7 of every 1,000 black students and 12 of every 1,000 Hispanic students took on this challenge (Holloway,2004).

Why is it hot?
Achievement gap in schools is still present all over the U.S Low enrollment of minorities in the math and science majors Less advanced math classes being offered in schools with high populations of minority students

What are the Relevant Issues?

It's difficult to pinpoint exact factors Re-segregation of schools are decreasing opportunities for minorities Low teacher expectations of students o Leads to low student self-expectations o Leads to low enrollment in rigorous math and science classes Minority students tend to be enrolled in poorly funded schools with unqualified teachers

Clicker Question 2
In 1966, only 4.6% of students that took the SAT were interested in becoming a math major, in 1992 the percentage of students interested in a major in math was _____. A. 2% B. 0.6% C. 25% D. 12% E. 5%

What does the research say?

High expectations, strong classroom practice, and intensive collaboration among teachers plays a key role in supporting students' success o Closing the achievement gap is not a simple task  "Learning mathematics is mostly about memorizing facts" is negatively correlated with achievement (Lubienski,2007) Factors affecting achievement gap: o Parental earnings and education  It is shown that one of the earliest indicators of giftedness is language  Low-income and minority students may not have the same academic vocabulary as middle and upper-class students o Teacher attitude: teachers are more likely to have lower expectations for minorities, who in turn, have lower expectations for themselves o School: minorities are more likely to attend underfunded schools  These schools often offer less advanced classes

Research cont'd
Research has shown that less minorities are enrolled in advanced classes Percentage of gifted/talented students should be proportionate in ethnic group and gender to the general population In Texas: o 34.8% of the student population is Caucasians, which comprise 48.4% of the gifted students o Hispanics consist 47.1% of total population but 35.6% of gifted o African Americans consist of 14.1% of total population but 8.1% of gifted o Asians consist of 3.6% but 8.0% of gifted

AP Students

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit in California charging that ethnic minority and disadvantaged students whose high schools offer few or no AP courses are at a disadvantage in competing for university admissions with students who have greater access to AP offerings.

Current Practices
What We Do Wrong Push the Curriculum Down o Focus on learning more content at earlier age Ignorance about Students' Backgrounds o The same strategies do not work for students from different backgrounds Inequality in preschool education o Age of white/African American students when start preschool

Clicker Question 3
If you had a minority in one of your honors classes who wanted to drop because it was "too difficult," what would you do? a. Talk with the student to discuss what his/her difficulty with the class is b. Get a tutor for the student c. Talk with his/her parents d. Let them drop e. Tell them "No."

Current Practices
Ways to Improve Start out right o Have early milestones for students Support families High expectations Teacher Collaboration o Understand the students and their community Form coalition in community Increase Options to take advanced classes: o online based classes, integrated math classes and summer classes

Tamaika& Gabrielle
Two high school students. Gabrielle was a white middle-class student and Tamaika was a middle class African American. Year One: Both successfully finished first year of college prep math, and this was connected to their teachers high expectations and demanding classroom practices As Gabrielle became more optimistic about her ability to succeed in challenging math classes: "It makes you feel like you're smart, like you're good at it"
(Horn,2004)

Tamaika & Gabrielle (continued)

Year Two Tamika Gabrielle (Junior): Teacher covered material Was in a class with quicker but teachers freshman and sophomores collaborated to help out which she did not like students Teacher would not explore Received a second chance to questions but rather move improve her second semester on with the right answer grade Did not have a good Even though she did poorly on rapport with her teacher a major test, geometry Gave up at the end of the teachers let her pass and she year, receiving a D succeeded in advanced algebra and pre-calculus

More Current Practices

Increase number of minorities taking AP test High School Puente Project GEAR UP program NCTM Standards-Based Curriculum

Increase number of minorities taking AP test

Florida started a new program: provided college prep courses in inner-city and low-income communities trained teachers on how to recruit students into AP classes (also includes monetary bonuses) paid for AP test Now Florida ranks 5th in the nation in the percentage of AP testtakers who score at least a 3 while in high school. 24.8% of AP test takers were Hispanic, compared to 15.5% nationally o 27.6% scored at least a 3 compared to 14.3% nationally 12.9% of AP test-takers were black, compared to 8.2% nationally o 6.3% scored at least a 3 compared to 3.7% nationally

High School Puente Project

Aimed at transferring Latino students from high school to four-year colleges Program finds successful Latino professionals in the community who show students the ways that their roots in the community and culture have helped them professionally Students learn to critique their writing, assess their progress, and set high standards for themselves Classes are modeled after advanced classes: students write everyday, read books outside of class, make a portfolio at the end of the year, and critique each other's writing (critical thinking) Program includes parents in the education process and in homework (for example, there are homework assignments on dichos, proverbs)

GEAR UP Program
Aimed at increasing academic achievement and college attendance for low-income and minority students Supported by federal grants Program matches students with tutors/mentors from local universities --> tutors work with the same students and use strategic tutoring (aimed at students becoming academically independent) Mentors discuss school and social issues, as well as college decisions Do previews of colleges so students can envision themselves there Work with community to find the best resources for students o Example: partnered with TARCO Steel, which offers job shadowing and the Elmira Business Institute, which provides career workshops Program also works to improve school systems in ways that will increase overall academic success for low-income and minority students Each year the program evaluates its success

NCTM Standards-Based Curriculum

"Students should be exposed to numerous and various interrelated experiences that encourage them to value the mathematics enterprise, to develop mathematical habits of mind, and to understand the role of mathematics in human affairs;... they should be encouraged to explore, to guess, and to even make and correct errors so they gain confidence in their ability to solve complex problems;...they should read, write, and discuss mathematics; and... they should conjecture, test and build arguments about a conjecture's validity"(NCTM 1989, pg 5).

Social Capital
Social capital is defined as the good will, sympathy, and connections created by social interaction within and between social networks. Minority students families tend to lack the social capital that is much more common in white students families that allows parents to advocate on behalf of their students. Parents earnings and education closely correlate to their social capital and are a very good predictor of how well students will do in school.

Why is this important for your future teaching?

You need to have high expectations for all your students Need to remember that not all strategies work for all students There are many factors affecting students' academic decisions

Works Cited
1. 2. 3. (1984). Minorities and mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 15, 83-176. Retrieved from Education Full Text database (2004). Making academic excellence a norm.Lumina, 1. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http://www.luminafoundation.org/ Gandara, P. (2004). Building bridges to college. Educational Leadership, 62(3), 56-69. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov04/vol62/num03/Building-Bridges-to-College.aspx Gulick, Joe. "Minorities under-represented in school gifted classes." Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (2010): n. pag.Lubbock Online. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. Gulick, J. (2010). Minorities under-represented in school gifted classes. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 1. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://lubbockonline.com/education/2010-11-14/minorities-under-represented-school-gifted-classes Hale, J. E. (2004). How schools shortchange African American children. Educational Leadership, 62(3), 34-37. Retrieved November 20, 2010, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov04/vol62/num03/How-SchoolsShortchange-African-American-Children.aspx Holloway, J. (2004). Closing the Minority Achievement Gap in Math. Educational Leadership, 61(5), 84-86. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Horn, I. (2004). Why do students drop advanced mathematics?. Educational Leadership, 62(3), 61-64. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Jacobs, J. (1983). Equity through mathematics: everyone's responsibility. Mathematics Teacher, 76, 463-4. Retrieved from Education Full Text database Ladner, M., & Burke, L. (2010, September 17). Closing the Racial Education Gap: Learning from Floridas Reforms | The Heritage Foundation .Conservative Policy Research and Analysis | The Heritage Foundation . Retrieved November 20, 2010, from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/09/closing-the-racial-achievement-gap-learning-from-floridas-reforms Lubienski, S. (2007). What we can do about achievement disparities. Educational Leadership, 65 (3), 54-59. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Matthews, W. (1984). Influences on the learning and participation of minorities in mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 15, 84-95. doi: 10.2307/748884 Sheridan-Thomas, Heather K. GEAR UP for College. Educational Leadership (2006). Treisman, P. U. (1990, November). Studying students studying calculus: A look at the lives of minority mathematics students in college. The College Mathematics Journal, 23 (5), 362-372.

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