James A. Telese

Mexican American High School Students’ Perceptions of Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching

A survey that gauged attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics teaching was administered to 226 high school mathematics students. The sample was taken from a high school situated in the lower Rio Grande river valley region of Texas. The following were the research questions: What are the attitudes of Latino students and their beliefs toward mathematics? What is the predominant mathematics teaching tradition presented as perceived by the students? Results indicated that the students’attitudes toward Algebra and mathematics teaching in general were not very conducive for enhancing their “new civil right.” There was a greater occurrence of traditional, teacher-centered activities in all classes in comparison to nontraditional, inquiry-based activities.

Making Mathematics Assessment Fair for Students At-risk.

indicated that minority and female students learn math ematics best in environments that involve hands-on work, meaningful applications, and cooperative group interaction (Besag & Wahl, 1987; Malcom, George, & Matyas, 1985; Spanos, Rhodes, Dale, & Crandall, 1989). Traditional assessment practices have not been aligned with these learning styles. Assessment practices that promote equity should support a democratic vision of mathematics education. A democratic view of education for all learners includes

Mathematics Assessment Scenarios for At-Risk Students

In this paper, we describe the work by a team of university and public school mathematics educators to design mathematics assessment tasks that are effective for students who have been identified at risk in mathematics, through their failure on a state mathematics assessment. We have developed assessment tasks that have the very best chance to elicit the most mathematical knowledge possible, but are closely tied to the school curriculum and practical enough to be administered by classroom teachers. We offer some perspectives on the need for alternative mathematics assessment for at-risk students, along with the dangers inherent in this undertaking. Some practical design considerations are discussed and examples of student responses to a mathematics assessment scenario are given. Finally, policy issues related to authentic assessment are discussed.