Abstract
This paper examines Latina/o student success in mathematics as a result of collective teacher beliefs and practices in a high school mathematics department. Based on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework and ethnographic data, the paper finds teacher collectivity allows teachers to develop meaningful relationships with their students. These relationships underlie the ability of teachers to advance large numbers of students to calculus by their senior year. Implications for researchers, policymakers, and teacher educators are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Anyon, Jean (1997). Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform. New York: Teachers College Press.
Apple, Michael W. (1988). Teachers and Texts: A Political Economy of Class and Gender Relations in Education. New York: Routledge.
Artiles, Alfredo J. (1996). Teacher thinking in urban schools: The need for a contextualized research agenda. In Francisco A. Rios (ed.), Teacher Thinking in Cultural Contexts, pp. 23–52. Albany: SUNY Press.
Bay, Mary, Bryan, Tanis, and O'Connor, Rosemary (1994). Teachers assisting teachers: A preferential model for urban educators. Teacher Education and Special Education 17: 10–21.
Cochran-Smith, Marilyn (1991). Learning to teach against the grain. Harvard Educational Review 61: 2279–2310.
Cochran-Smith, Marilyn (1995). Uncertain allies: Understanding the boundaries of race and teaching. Harvard Educational Review 65: 541–570.
Donato, Ruben, Menchaca, Martha, and Valencia, Richard R. (1991). Segregation, desegregation, and integration of chicano students: Problems and prospects. In Richard R. Valencia (ed.), Chicano School Failure and Success: Research and Policy Agendas for the 1990s, pp. 27–58. New York: Falmer.
Education Commisssion of the States (1995, September). The New American Urban School District. Denver: ECS.
Escalante, Jaime, and Dirmann, Jack (1990). The Jaime Escalante math program. Journal of Negro Education 59: 407–423.
Fine, Michelle (1991). Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban Public High School. Albany: SUNY Press.
Frankenstein, Marilyn (1995). Equity in mathematics education: Class in the world outside the class. In Walter G. Secada, Elizabeth Fennema, and Lisa B. Adajian (eds.), New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education, pp. 165–190. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fuson, Karen C., Smith, Steven T., and Lo Cicero, Ana Maria (1997). Supporting first graders' ten-structured thinking in urban classrooms. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 28: 738–766.
Garcia, Eugene E. (1994). Attributes of effective schools for language minority students. In Etta R. Hollins, Joyce E. King, and Warren C. Haymans (eds.), Teaching Diverse Populations: Formulating a Knowledge Base, pp. 93–103. Albany: SUNY Press.
Gillette, Maureen D. (1996). Resistance and rethinking: White student teachers in predominantly African-American schools. In Francisco A. Rios (ed.), Teacher Thinking in Cultural Contexts, pp. 104–128. Albany: SUNY Press.
Gonzalez, Josue M. (1994). Spanish as a second school language: Adding language to the discourse of multicultural education. In Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz (ed.), Reinventing Urban Education: Multiculturalism and the Social Context of Schooling, pp. 257–275. New York: IUME Press.
Good, Thomas L., and Brophy, Jere E. (1997). Looking in Classrooms. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
Grant, Carl A. (1989). Urban teachers: Their new colleagues and curriculum. Phi Delta Kappan 70: 764–770.
Grant, Carl A., and Secada, Walter G. (1990). Preparing teachers for diversity. In W. Robert Houston, Martin Haberman, and John Sikula (eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: A Project of the Association of Teacher Educators, pp. 403–442. New York: Macmillan.
Gutiérrez, Rochelle (1996). Practices, beliefs, and cultures of high school mathematics departments: Understanding their influence on student advancement. Journal of Curriculum Studies 28: 495–529.
Gutstein, Eric, Lipman, Pauline, Hernandez, Patricia, and de los Reyes, Rebeca (1997). Culturally relevant mathematics teaching in a Mexican American context. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 28: 709–737.
Haberman, Martin (1996). Selecting and preparing culturally competent teachers for urban schools. In John Sikula (ed.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: A Project of the Association of Teacher Educators (2nd ed.), pp. 747–760. New York: Macmillan.
Irvine, Jackie J., and York, Darlene E. (1993). Teacher perspectives: Why do African-American, Hispanic, and Vietnamese students fail? In Stanley W. Rothstein (ed.), Handbook of Schooling in Urban America, pp. 188–194. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.
Jackson, Barbara L., and Cibulka, James G. (1992). Leadership turnover and business mobilization: The changing political ecology of urban school systems. In James G. Cibulka, Rodney J. Reed, and Kenneth K. Wong (eds.), The Politics of Urban Education in the United States, pp. 71–86. Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
Khisty, Lena L. (1995). Making inequality: Issues of language and meanings in mathematics teaching with Hispanic students. In Walter G. Secada, Elizabeth Fennema, and Lisa B. Adajian (eds.), New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education, pp. 279–297. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
King, Joyce E. (1991). Dysconscious racism: Ideology, identity, and the miseducation of teachers. Journal of Negro Education 60: 133–146.
King, Joyce E., Hollins, Etta R., and Hayman, Warren C. (1997). Preparing Teachers for Cultural Diversity. New York: Teachers College Press.
Kotlowitz, Alex (1991). There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday.
Kozol, Jonathan (1991). Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: Crown.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1995). Making mathematics meaningful in multicultural contexts. In Walter G. Secada, Elizabeth Fennema and Lisa B. Adajian (eds.), New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education, pp. 126–145. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1997). It doesn't add up: African American students' mathematics achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 28: 697–708.
Lather, Patti (1986). Research as praxis. Harvard Educational Review 56: 257–277.
Little, Judith W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers' professional relations. Teachers College Record 91: 509–536.
McIntyre, Alice (1997). Making Meaning of Whiteness. New York: SUNY Press.
Miles, Matthew B., and Huberman, A. Michael (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Moll, Luis C., and Gonzalez, Norma (1994). Lessons from research with language minority children. Journal of Reading Behavior 26: 439–456.
National Center for Educational Statistics (1996, July). Urban Schools: The Challenge of Location and Poverty (Executive Summary). Washington, DC: US Department of Education.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1991). Profesional Standards for Teaching Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
Noguera, Pedro (1995). Preventing and producing violence: A critical analysis of reponses to school violence. Harvard Educational Review 65: 189–212.
Oakes, Jeannie (1990). Mutliplying Inequalities: The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and Science. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Payne, Charles M. (1984). Getting What We Ask For: The Ambiguity of Success and Failure in Urban Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Quintanar-Sarellana, Rosalinda (1997). Culturally relevant teacher preparation and teachers' perceptions of the language and culture of linguistic minority students. In Joyce E. King, Etta R. Hollins, and Warren C. Hayman (eds.), Preparing Teachers for Cultural Diversity, pp. 40–52. New York: Teachers College Press.
Secada, Walter G. (1996). Urban students acquiring English and learning mathematics in the context of reform. Urban Education 30: 422–448.
Siskin, Leslie S. (1994). Realms of Knowledge: Academic Departments in Secondary Schools. London: Falmer Press.
Sleeter, Christine E. (1993). How white teachers construct race. In Cameron M. McCarthy and Warren Crichlow (eds.), Race, Identity, and Representation in Education, pp. 157–171. New York: Routledge.
Stake, Robert E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stoddart, Trish (1993). Who is prepared to teach in urban schools? Education and Urban Society 226: 29–48.
Talbert, Joan E., McLaughlin, Milbrey W., and Rowan, Brian (1993). Understanding context effects on secondary school teaching. Teachers College Record 95: 45–68.
Tate, William F. (1994). Race, retrenchment, and the reform of school mathematics. Phi Delta Kappan 75: 477–484.
Tate, William F. (1997). Race-ethnicity, SES, gender, and language proficiency trends in mathematics achievement: An update. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 28: 652–679.
Tate, William F., and D'Ambrosio, Beatriz (1997). Equity, mathematics reform, and research. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 28: 650–651.
Tatum, Beverly D. (1994). Teaching white students about racism: The search for white allies and the restoration of hope. Teachers College Record 95: 462–476.
Valencia, Richard R. (1991). The plight of Chicano students: An overview of schooling conditions and outcomes. In Richard R. Valencia (ed.), Chicano School Failure and Success: Research and Policy Agendas for the 1990s, pp. 3–22. New York: Falmer.
Wiley, Mary G., and Eskilson, Arlene (1978). Why did you learn in school today? Teachers' perceptions of causality. Sociology of Education 51: 261–269.
Woods, Peter (1996). Researching the Art of Teaching: Ethnography for Educational Use. New York: Routledge.
Zimpher, Nancy L., and Ashburn, Elizabeth A. (1992). Countering parochialism in teacher candidates. In Mary Dilworth (ed.), Diversity in Teacher Education, pp. 40–62. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gutiérrez, R. Advancing Urban Latina/o Youth in Mathematics: Lessons from an Effective High School Mathematics Department. The Urban Review 31, 263–281 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023224027473
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023224027473