“I’m Present, But Not Represented:” Understanding Black and Latina/o Students’ Math Engagement

• In Event: Constructing Measures of Culturally Sustaining Practices for Systemic Change: Concepts, Uses, and Next Steps

Abstract

Math is a gatekeeper for access and success in STEM; thus, failing to engage Black and Latina/o students in math classes cascades into limited individual mobility and widened societal inequity (NSF, 2019). There is growing evidence that the underrepresentation of individuals from these historically resilient, but marginalized groups, in math is closely associated with educational factors that undermine engagement (Archer et al., 2013; Wigfield et al., 2015). Although increasing math engagement has been an explicit goal of many education improvement efforts, especially as students enter middle school, many students experience a significant decline in their math engagement during middle school (Brown et al., 2008; Martin et al., 2015). These declines are particularly severe for Black and Latina/o students in part because these students experience multiple barriers and may have cultural experiences, values, and norms that are not recognized or supported by the dominant culture/education system from which current math practices are based (Martin, 2019; Oyserman & Lewis, 2017). Further, to date, research and measures of Black and Latina/o student engagement is often based on deficit-based perspectives, which has failed to capture the many important ways that math can be engaging for these students (Adiredja, 2019; McGee, 2016).

To understand Black and Latina/o middle school students’ math engagement, we need to redefine math engagement and its supporting practices more equitably. Using a mixed method, critical participatory action research approach, this paper discusses the first phase of our work to develop the Adapted Measure of Math Engagement (AM-ME), a culturally sustaining self-report measure of Black and Latina/o middle school students’ math engagement. The AM-ME is intended to formatively assess math engagement among Black and Latina/o middle school students to generate actionable knowledge that educators can use to inform their practices.

Findings shed light on how Black and Latina/o middle school students define math engagement from quantitative and qualitative lens. Black and Latina/o middle school students from six schools completed the Math and Science Engagement Scales (MSES). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses show the dimensional structure of the MSES among Black and Latina/o middle school students and follow-up CFAs show the extent to which the dimensional structure was invariant across Black and Latina/o boys and girls (four subgroups). These patterns were used to inform student focus groups and educator interviews that aimed to further understand what math engagement means for Black and Latina/o students and to determine whether additional dimensions emerge from these perspectives. We found that expanding the MSES’ social dimension, which centers family and community, and adding a dimension that pertains to overcoming racially/ethnically-rooted stereotypes and discrimination in math may be important to more accurately capture Black and Latina/o students’ engagement. These quantitative and qualitative findings will inform the development of the AM-ME in the project’s second phase. Additionally, findings provide insights into ways educators can promote more inclusive math learning environments and culturally sustaining understandings of what it means to be engaged in math.

Authors

• Marisa Crowder, McREL International
  Presenting Author

• Samantha Holquist, Child Trends -Minnesota

• Mark Vincent B. Yu, McREL International

• Ta-yang Hsieh, Search Institute

• Claire Kelley, Child Trends