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Race, SES, and mathematics achievement conflicts: how policy and political climate affect academic achievement

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An Erratum to this article was published on 17 October 2014

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been widely used as a determining factor to explain educational processes and outcomes such as mathematics academic achievement. Research has documented the links between SES and mathematics academic achievement. However, further understanding the complex relationship between contextual factors, such as policy, and its implications for these processes within an ideologically patriarchal society is paramount. After decades of United States school policy and reform—with the most recent focus on Common Core Standards—there continue to be inconsistent notions of what the “real” issues are and how to address those issues. This paper sets out to explore one specific case—House Bill 2281 (HB 2281) and, in effect, the banning of the Mexican–American Studies program in one school district in the US—in understanding the implications of policy in the shaping of the public education system. Implications for mathematics education research are explored.

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Notes

  1. Signed into law in 2010, Senate Bill (SB) 1070 includes provisions on: (1) registration documents for undocumented immigrants; (2) state penalties relating to immigration law enforcement including trespassing, harboring, and transporting undocumented immigrants; and (3) law enforcement officers’ responsibility to determine an individual’s immigration status during “lawful contact” made by law enforcement officials (Senate Bill 1070, 2010).

  2. Signed into law in 2011, House Bill (HB) 2281 includes, in part, a ban on programs that: (1) promote the overthrow of the US government; (2) promote resentment toward a race or class of people; (3) are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group; and (4) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treating pupils as individuals (House Bill 2281, 2010).

  3. The Mexican–American Studies (MAS) program is also known as Mexican–American/Raza Studies (MARS) or Raza Studies. For our purposes, we use Mexican–American Studies (MAS).

  4. TUSD = Tucson Unified School District.

  5. Noblit and Hare (1988) also use the term metaphors. We use the term concepts. See Noblit and Hare (1988) for criteria in determining adequate concepts.

  6. The National Council of La Raza (n.d.) clarifies that the term La Raza “was coined by Mexican scholar José Vasconcelos to reflect the fact that the people of Latin America are a mixture of many of the world’s races, cultures, and religions.” They recognize that the very limited translation of “La Raza” to simply mean “the race” implies an inaccurate assumption “that it is a term meant to exclude others”.

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  1. University of Illinois at Chicago, 1040 West Harrison Street M/C 147, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Zayoni N. Torres

  2. University of Illinois at Chicago, 1761 West 97th Street, Chicago, IL, 60643, USA

    Ramon A. Moran

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Torres, Z.N., Moran, R.A. Race, SES, and mathematics achievement conflicts: how policy and political climate affect academic achievement. ZDM Mathematics Education 46, 987–998 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-014-0609-8

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