MSGID: 1:317/3 6402c971   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Think you're good at math? Study shows it may be because you had   
   equitable math teachers    
      
     Date:   
         March 3, 2023   
     Source:   
         Portland State University   
     Summary:   
         A new study finds that high school students identify more with   
         math if they see their math teacher treating everyone in the   
         class equitably, especially in racially diverse schools. While   
         the relationship between teacher equity and math identity was   
         evident across races, there was an interesting exception. Black   
         students, in general, had strong math identities, regardless of   
         their teacher's actions. Learning about the factors that affect   
         student math identity is important because a student's attitude   
         towards the subject influences the courses that they take as   
         well as their future career selections. This study suggests that   
         teachers may have a larger role to play in helping students develop   
         a positive math identity than previously recognized.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A new study finds that high school students identify more with math if   
   they see their math teacher treating everyone in the class equitably,   
   especially in racially diverse schools. The study by researchers at   
   Portland State University, Loyola University Chicago and the University   
   of North Texas was published in the journal Sociology of Education. Dara   
   Shifrer, associate professor of sociology at Portland State and former   
   middle school math teacher, led the study.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Who can do well in math? How you answer that question may depend on   
   where you live. Whereas people in East Asian countries tend to believe   
   that hard work can lead anyone to succeed at math, people in the United   
   States are more likely to believe that people need natural talent in the   
   subject to succeed. This perception means that students in the U.S. may   
   be particularly susceptible to racial and gender stereotypes about who   
   is and is not "good at math."  "Americans don't realize what strange   
   stereotypes we have about math," says Shifrer. "It really sets kids up   
   for failure here."  The fact that some high school students are more   
   likely to give up on math than others has important implications for   
   their individual futures and for the lack of diversity in STEM (science,   
   technology, engineering and math) careers.   
      
   "U.S. STEM spaces are not a meritocracy," says Shifrer. "The cultural   
   biases that we have around people's identities, status characteristics   
   like race and gender, and our cultural stereotypes about math and science   
   and who belongs there play a key role in who enters these fields and   
   does well in them. The more that educators and students are aware of that   
   and take action to counteract it, the more it could really shift access   
   and representation."  In the study, Shifrer and colleagues sought to   
   determine if teachers could counteract cultural biases and help students   
   develop a positive "math identity" -- the sense of seeing themselves as 'a   
   math person' or as a person who can succeed in math. In particular, they   
   hypothesized that ninth graders who perceived their math teacher as being   
   more equitable -- treating everyone in the class fairly and providing   
   clear resources for success -- would have stronger math identities.   
      
   To test this hypothesis, the team used data from surveys of nearly   
   30,000 ninth graders from across the United States collected in 2009   
   by the National Center for Education Statistics. These surveys assessed   
   how equitable students thought their math teachers were by having them   
   rate their agreement with statements like, "my math teacher treats   
   every student fairly" and "my math teacher thinks all students can be   
   successful."  In their analysis, the researchers grouped students by   
   their race and gender and by the racial composition of their school's   
   student body -- that is, whether they attended a racially diverse school,   
   a school where they were racially distinct or a school where most of their   
   peers shared their race. They also controlled for factors that might   
   be alternate explanations for a seeming relationship between perceived   
   teacher equity and math identity, such as prior achievement in math,   
   type of school, social advantages and teacher's preparation to teach math.   
      
   The results showed that students who perceived their math teachers as   
   being more equitable had stronger math identities than those who saw   
   their math teachers as less equitable.   
      
   "If teachers are teaching in a way that the kids perceive as equitable   
   and efficacious, then it really makes a big difference in how the students   
   feel about math," says Shifrer.   
      
   The researchers also found that this positive effect of equitable   
   teaching on students' attitudes toward math was strongest in racially   
   diverse schools.   
      
   "It seemed like teachers mattered more in those schools maybe because   
   race is more evident in those schools," says Shifrer. "Kids are looking   
   around and noticing that there are differences in students' race and   
   maybe they're thinking more about whether they're the kind of student   
   that's good at math.   
      
   The teachers really had a space to make a difference in schools like   
   that."  While the relationship between teacher equity and math identity   
   was evident across races, there was an interesting exception. Black   
   students, in general, had strong math identities, regardless of their   
   teacher's actions.   
      
   "There's some kind of resiliency where these students persist and   
   strive against racist stereotypes," says Shifrer. "They discount these   
   dominant narratives and think, 'I belong here; I'm good at this.'"   
   Shifrer says similar findings have been found in other studies looking   
   at the educational attitudes of Black students.   
      
   "[Black students] are often more positive towards school and towards   
   what education can do for them," she says. "But there's not been a lot   
   of work fleshing out the details."  One limitation of this study is that   
   the researchers can't say definitively that the teacher's behavior came   
   before the student's feelings about math.   
      
   "It could be that kids who identify more with math perceive their teachers   
   more positively," says Shifrer. 'But it makes sense that teachers who are   
   behaving more equitably are going to improve the way kids are feeling   
   in the classroom."  Learning about the factors that affect student   
   math identity is important because a student's attitude towards the   
   subject influences the courses that they take as well as their future   
   career selections. This study suggests that teachers may have a larger   
   role to play in helping students develop a positive math identity than   
   previously recognized.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Numeracy # K-12_Education # Educational_Psychology #   
                   Racial_Issues   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Educational_Technology # Mathematics #   
                   Mathematical_Modeling # Math_Puzzles   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Identity_theft o Intellectual_giftedness o   
             Early_childhood_education o Special_education o   
             Developmental_psychology o Self-concept o Education o   
             Learning_disability   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Portland_State_University. Original   
   written by Summer Allen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
      
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230303105248.htm   
      
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