Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Mathematics

Purpose: This paper is a thematic literature review to examine the current state of research about Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in mathematics. The main themes are students’ perception, teacher education for pre-service teacher and professional development for teachers. Research methods/ approach: Literature was collected from Eric, which is a research engine of the education field. Also, Google Scholar is used to find articles of major scholars introduced by Dr. Rich Milner, who is the instructor of this course. Findings: Students faced microaggressions in mathematics class, which discouraged them to learn mathematics. The effect of teacher education was inconsistent in terms of the awareness of culturally responsive pedagogy and lesson plans. Research of professional development mentioned that mathematics was cultural. Implications for research and practice: It is more interesting to conduct long term or follow-up research to find the teacher’s practice after a taking professional development program. Also, it is critical to expand research scope besides African American and Latino students. Finally, evidence-based research is needed to change the political situation. Keywords: culturally responsive teaching, mathematics, teacher education, professional development, student’s perception

Tennessee Education Savings Account: Tipping the Scales From Equity to Choice

This article provides an analysis of Tennessee’s newly signed Education Savings Account policy, a school choice initiative. The policy provides vouchers, in the form of a debit card, to students in grades K-12 who are at or below 200% of the federal poverty line and are zoned to attend a Nashville, Shelby County, or Achievement School District school. Using the Policy Window Framework the author uncovers that the policy was created in a federal and state-level political convergence, which attempted to place equity at the forefront of the issue. However, using Levin's Comprehensive Education Privatization Framework, we can see that neoliberal ideals of choice and efficiency conquer equity in the finalized policy. The author predicts the outcomes of this new policy using this framework in tandem with 3 case studies: Louisiana Scholarship Program, DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, and Tennessee’s Individualized Education Accounts.

Supporting Non-traditional Students in Online Environments

In ever-evolving electronic learning environments, course retention of students in online courses is significantly lower than those studying in traditional classroom contexts. Through a research synthesis, three major factors seem to impact online course retention: levels of student engagement, the student's ability to self-regulate, and quality teacher interaction and feedback. If any of these factors are missing from the student's online learning experience, it will be more difficult to keep the student engaged in the material, stay motivated, and feel connected to the teacher and other classmates.

What Pete Buttigieg—and all White Americans—Need to Understand About Racism

It is essential that educators, particularly white educators, work to understand racial inequality within a prophetic framework, refuse to perpetuate inaccurate and racist images of black and brown youth, and actively deconstruct structural inequalities within the education system. Structural racism, especially that which has been institutionalized within and in perceptions about the education system, is an important issue for the field of education that was recently the central issue of the eye-catching hashtag, #PeteButtigiegisaLyingMF. This Voices opinion piece examines Michael Harriot’s initiation of a conversation about understandings of structural racism with 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, contextualizes this online moment through a theoretical perspective, and provides a call to action for white educators.

Adolescent Mothers’ Life Trajectory: What is Dimming Their Futures?

For years, researchers contended that early pregnancy was the primary determinant for poor life outcomes for adolescent mothers (Hayes, 1987, as cited in SmithBattle 2007, p 410). More recently, the flaws in these assumptions have surfaced as theories such as the general systems theory on human behavior are gaining traction. This states that from the individual level (social interactions, cultural beliefs and values, degree of self-efficacy) to the environmental level (family, peer groups, societal norms, social class, economic status, racism), the widening disparity along one’s developmental life course reveals outcomes unique to a person and their experiences (Coie et al., 1993, pp 1014, 1016). The intertwined nature of these systems, each of which will be discussed in further sections, have altered the direction of research concerning sources of poor life outcomes commonly attributed to adolescent motherhood.

Analyzing Patterns of Qualified Teachers and the Impact of Teacher Education Requirements in Small Island Developing States

This paper analyzes existing patterns in the percentage of qualified teachers in primary school in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as well as patterns in the current required minimum level of education to teach primary school in those countries. Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.C aims to substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers by 2030, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and Small Island Developing States. Using data from the World Policy Centre and the World Bank, this study finds that in a sample of Small Island Developing States (N = 23) the percentage of teachers who are qualified is lower than the global average (78.1 percent compared to 85.6 percent). When looking at minimum teacher educational requirements for primary education, only 29.2 percent of countries require a Bachelor's degree with training (compared to 48.8 percent globally). This study further aimed to determine whether stricter educational requirements for primary school teachers in SIDS is related to higher literacy rates of ages 15-24 and GDP per capita. No significant relationship between educational requirements and either measure was found using a Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. However, in a global sample (N = 168), a significant positive correlation between teacher educational requirements and GDP was found. In addition, a marginally significant positive correlation between educational requirements and literacy rate ages 15-24 was found. The results suggest that having qualified teachers and stricter educational requirements may lead to economic and educational benefits, though the results from SIDS-only analyses were inconclusive. This paper also recommends for changes in policy in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4.C, including the development of a clearer universal definition of qualified teacher and the development of programs to help individuals attain teaching credentials and higher education.

Promoting Youth Empowerment through International Cultural Exchanges

The present study explores the perceptions of a group of Moroccan students about the impact that an international Youth Ambassador program (the Marrakesh-Scottsdale Cultural Exchange Program) had on empowering them, promoting global understanding, and fostering their sense of citizen diplomacy. The study uses mixed methods to explore the participants’ perceived impact of the exchange experience on three individual-level constructs: empowerment, cultural competence, and citizen diplomacy. The results, which align with the literature, show mostly positive effects on the variables examined. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.

A Pathway to Gender Neutral housing

George Fox University is a small, private Quaker university in Newberg, Oregon, just southwest of Portland. In the fall of 2013, a transgender student, named only as Jaycen to protect his identity, was denied housing consistent with his gender identity as a man. Jaycen had requested to live on campus with a group of male friends and had obtained a male gender marker on his identification. George Fox University refused, in accordance with their policy on preventing unwed students of different genders from living together, and offered Jaycen a choice between a single apartment on campus and living off campus. (“Students Identifying as Transgender,” n.d.) (Not meant to be the actual abstract -- I am submitting as a placeholder)

Representation Matters, but We Mustn’t Stop There

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More Than Just A Toothbrush: Children's Oral Health Disparities

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