Investigating Teaching in Conceptually Oriented Mathematics Classrooms Characterized by African American Student Success

Abstract

This article outlines several forms of instructional practice that distinguished middle-grades mathematics classrooms that were organized around conceptually oriented activity and marked by African American students' success on state assessments. We identified these forms of practice based on a comparative analysis of teaching in (a) classrooms in which there was evidence of conceptually oriented instruction and in which African American students performed better than predicted by their previous state assessment scores and (b) classrooms in which there was evidence of conceptually oriented instruction but in which African American students did not perform better than predicted on previous state assessment scores. The resulting forms of practice can inform professional learning for preservice and in-service teachers.

Understanding Racialized Learning Environments: Moving from Exclusionary to Inclusive Secondary Mathematics Classrooms

“…Wilson and colleagues (2019) utilized Gutiérrez' (2002utilized Gutiérrez' ( , 2008 four dimensions of equity within learning environments to develop best practices that create an equitable space within the classroom for marginalized students. They state that when teachers make their expectations explicit, learners are better able to grapple with understanding the content, often coming to an understanding by reconciling the content with their lived experiences (Wilson et. al.…”

“…Through further observation, it was concluded that teachers made expectations explicit across all classrooms observed. However, different approaches to this Working Paper v1.0 | Do NOT share without written consent of lead authors practice were made evident: 1) making expectations explicit via teacher noticing and scaffolding to attend to learner needs to strengthen comprehension and 2) making expectations explicit by attending to the structure of the learner's approach to critical thinking (Wilson et al, 2019). Both approaches allow the teacher to discuss cultural relevance to further aid in learner comprehension, but in different ways.…”

“…Attending to the learners' local context. Wilson and colleagues (2019) describe attending to a student's local context as when a teacher piques students' interest by placing the content within a familiar context related to their sociocultural identity; familial connections, the school environment, pop culture, and community (Wilson et al, 2019). This practice allows the learners to gain full comprehension of a topic by placing their core understanding within lived experiences while also acknowledging that these experiences are valid and essential to their identities as mathematicians.…”

“…Making expectations explicit. Wilson and colleagues (2019) found that when teachers practiced making expectations explicit, students began to develop their own agency to come to terms with the content and contextualize it in a way that further develops their identity as a knower (Wilson et. al., 2019).…”

“…al., 2019). Marginalized groups of students, Black students in particular, Working Paper v1.0 | Do NOT share without written consent of lead authors greatly benefited from their teachers making expectations explicit because it ensured that students could construct a shared product based on the work that was done while conceptually engaging with the mathematics (Wilson et. al.…”