The Identification and Participation of Latino Students in Advanced Mathematics Courses

Using a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study examined the perspectives of Latino parents and their involvement in the decision of their child to enroll in an advanced mathematics course in sixth grade. Since enrollment in Algebra I in high school is said to be a strong predictor of college attainment and with the growing number of Latino students across the nation, this study has the potential to help district and campus leaders establish whole-school systems for communicating with Latino parents to encourage their children to enroll in advanced mathematics courses at earlier grades. Participants in this study included four sixth-grade students enrolled in an advanced mathematics course, four enrolled in regular mathematics, their mother or father, two mathematics teachers, a school counselor, and two district administrators. Data analyzed included audio recordings of semi-structured interviews of each of the participants. The findings suggested that the district has proactively developed a systematic process of creating that includes six data points to create a student profile of students that will do well in advanced mathematics. This process is helping the district close the gap between total Latino school enrollment and the enrollment of Latino students in advanced mathematics. The findings also suggested that specific communication with parents about the importance of enrollment trajectories might influence the enrollment of students into advanced mathematics courses at earlier grades.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1157571
Date05 1900
CreatorsBlanchard, Myrna Elizabeth
ContributorsEzzani, Miriam, Castro, Dina, Eddy, Colleen, González-Carriedo, Ricardo
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatvii, 196 pages, Text
CoverageUnited States - Texas
RightsPublic, Blanchard, Myrna Elizabeth, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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