Linguistic Minority Students’ Opportunities to Learn High School Mathematics

• In Event: Roundtable Session 66
  In Roundtable Session: Math Matters: Making Math Accessible to Women and Students of Color

Abstract

This study examines mathematics performance disparities between Language minority (LM) students and their access to rigorous mathematics courses in the high school college preparatory sequence (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus). The study specifically analyzes whether mathematics assessment patterns between Asian and Latino LMs and non-LMs differ by LM status. If institutional mechanisms such as course taking have a larger negative effect on the achievement of Latino LMs compared to Asian LMs, this would suggest that students’ ethnicity, in addition to language background, influence institutional decisions regarding LM’s mathematics course placements. Findings show that taking more advanced mathematics courses by the end of senior year in high school is more pronounced for Asian LMs compared to Latino LMs.

Authors

• Eduardo Mosqueda, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Saul Isaac Maldonado, University of California - Santa Cruz