Promotive and Corrosive Factors in African American Students’ Math Beliefs and Achievement

Abstract

Framed by expectancy-value theory (which posits that beliefs about and the subjective valuation of a domain predict achievement and decision-making in that domain), this study examined the relationships among teacher differential treatment and relevant math instruction on African American students' self-concept of math ability, math task value, and math achievement. These questions were examined by applying structural equation modeling to 618 African American youth (45.6 % female) followed from 7th to 11th grade in the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. While controlling for gender and prior math achievement, relevant math instruction promoted and teacher differential treatment corroded students' math beliefs and achievement over time. Further, teacher discrimination undermined students' perceptions of their teachers, a mediating process under-examined in previous inquiry. These findings suggest policy and practice levers to narrow opportunity gaps, as well as foster math achievement and science, technology, engineering and math success.

Threats and Supports to Female Students’ Math Beliefs and Achievement

“…Students who identify as having "double-minority status" are particularly vulnerable to threats against their competencies in STEM fields (Leaper et al, 2012). With our results highlighting how gendered differential treatment holds negative implications for females and prior work showing that teacher discrimination has negative implications for African American students' self-concept of math ability and achievement (Cogburn et al, 2011;Diemer et al, 2016), it is important to examine how these influences may have a unique and perhaps multiplicative effect on students who hold two marginalized identities.…”

“…Relevant math instruction is conceptualized as how interesting and useful students perceive their teacher's delivery of the content. This conceptual and empirical approach mirrors prior research (e.g., Diemer, Marchand, McKellar, & Malanchuk, ).…”

“…Generally, acceptable mean inter‐item correlation values range from .15 to .50, with larger values reflecting higher levels of internal consistency (Clark & Watson, ). These measures have been used in prior work and have shown to be internally consistent, with IIC ranges between .49 and .61 and Cronbach's alpha between .79 and .88 (Diemer et al, ).…”

“…Generally, acceptable mean inter-item correlation values range from .15 to .50, with larger values reflecting higher levels of internal consistency (Clark & Watson, 1995). These measures have been used in prior work and have shown to be internally consistent, with IIC ranges between .49 and .61 and Cronbach's alpha between .79 and .88 (Diemer et al, 2016). Perceived Gendered Differential Treatment by Teachers measures students' perceptions of differential treatment by teachers (and secondarily, school counselors), on the basis of gender (e.g., being called on less or thought of as less smart because of gender).…”

“…There have been few studies that measure the effects of teaching practices that are relevant to students' lives in relation to student motivation over time (Diemer et al, 2016;Wang, 2012). However, there have been promising "one-shot" relevance interventions (i.e., interventions that take place at one or a few select time points; Gaspard et al, 2015;Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010;Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009).…”