Analyzing Intersections of Sex and Ethnicity Within Mathematics: The Impact of Relational Interactions on Achievement

• In Event: Research Around Issues of Equity and in Equity-Sensitive Settings

Abstract

The research examined how teacher-student relational interactions affect students’ mathematics achievement and learning. Namely, the paper highlights the different ways that mathematics teachers relate to their students and the subsequent impact on outcomes for mathematics success. Analyzing 7 second and third-grade classrooms in a large urban district within a low SES community, the study found that relational interactions explained a significant portion of the variance in mathematics achievement, even when controlling for prior achievement. The paper also examines how relational interactions are differentiated for different sexes and ethnicities. A call for future research is made to further investigate how student demographics (i.e. ethnicity, gender, SES) warrant varying forms of relational interactions in the mathematics classroom.

Authors

• Dan Battey, Rutgers University

• Rebecca A. Neal, Arizona State University

• Luis Antonio Leyva, Vanderbilt University

• Karlyn R. Adams-Wiggins, Rutgers University

• Allison Milby, City Year Greater Philadelphia