Berry, Robert Q.

Bol, Linda

English

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion UniversityODU Digital CommonsEducational Foundations & Leadership FacultyPublications Educational Foundations & Leadership2005Perceptions of the Mathematics Achievement Gap:A Survey of NCTM MembershipRobert Q. BerryLinda BolOld Dominion UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_fac_pubsPart of the Educational Leadership Commons, and the Science and Mathematics EducationCommonsThis Conference Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Educational Foundations & Leadership at ODU Digital Commons. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. Formore information, please contact digitalcommons@odu.edu.Repository CitationBerry, Robert Q. and Bol, Linda, "Perceptions of the Mathematics Achievement Gap: A Survey of NCTM Membership" (2005).Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications. 33.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_fac_pubs/33Original Publication CitationBerry, R., & Bol, L. (2005). Perceptions of the mathematics achievement gap: A survey of NCTM membership. Paper presented at the 27thAnnual Meeting of PME-NA: North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education,Roanoke, VA, October 20-23, 2005.Lloyd, G. M., Wilson, M., Wilkins, J. L. M., & Behm, S. L. (Eds.). (2005).Proceedings of the 27th annual meeting of the North American Chapter ofthe International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.PERCEPTIONS OF THE MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT GAP:A SURVEY OF THE NCTM MEMBERSHIPRobert Q. Berry, III Linda BolUniversity of Virginia Old Dominion Universityrqb3e@virginia.edu lbol@odu.eduThere is increasing concern among educators about the disparities that exist among ethnicgroups in mathematics achievement. There is no simple explanation for the achievement gap.However, it is important to recognize that the achievement gap is not a result of membership inany group, but is instead a result of the conditions of education (Thompson & O’Quinn, 2001).Consequently, a variety of school, community, and home factors seem to underlie or contributeto the gap.  For example, the lower mathematics achievement levels of minority students,particularly Black students, may be indicative of the curriculum and instruction these studentsreceive (Lubienski, 2003).  Other researchers have highlighted differences in teachers’expectations of students as a function of race, gender, and social class which influenceachievement (Berry, 2004; Ferguson, 1998).  However, there are few studies that have surveyededucators to explore their explanations of the achievement gap in mathematics.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to survey the perceptions of members of theNational Council of the Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) on the achievement gap inmathematics education. For the purposes of this study the achievement gap was defined as anindictor of disparities between groups of students usually identified (accurately or not) by racial,ethnic, linguistic or socio economic class with regard to a variety of measures (attrition andenrollment rates, drug use, health, alienation for school and society attitude toward mathematics,as well as test scores). More specifically the following research questions were addressed:(1) What do respondents perceive to be the most important contributors to the achievementgap in mathematics?(2) Do these perceptions vary as a function of personal characteristics of the respondent (i.e.,gender, ethnicity, or age)?(3) Do these perceptions vary as a function of characteristics related to employment (i.e.,position held, years of experience, or educational degree)?MethodData was collected via an online survey sent to a random sample of the NCTM membership.At the time of the survey, there were a total of 41,508 NCTM members in the population to drawthe sample from. The random sample was composed of 5,000 non-student NCTM members. OnMarch 9, 2004, the sampling of the NCTM membership received an email containing the URLlink that opened the online survey.  The online survey closed on March 29, 2004. Eight hundredseventy members from the random sample visited the website and 623 members completed thesurvey.Data SourcesThe data source was the questionnaire developed by the researchers. The first sectioncontained items requesting information on demographic and employment characteristics. Thenext sections presented 23 rating scale items pertaining to factors contributing to theProceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of PME-NA, Virginia Tech, October 2005 2achievement gap. The items were organized into five sub-areas or scales and included (1)Background and Societal Influences, (2) Student Characteristics, (3) Curriculum and Instruction,(4) Politics and Policy, and (5) Language. Respondents were asked to rate the extent to whichthey agreed with the statement on 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” (1)to “strongly agree” (5).A factor analysis (principal components extraction method with varimax rotation) wasconducted to empirically investigate the validity of the rating scale items. The results supportedonly 4 scales. The component matrix did not support the original scale called Background andSocietal Influences. The final solution of four factors, all with eigen values greater than one,accounted for 52 percent of the variance. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alphas) for each ofthe scales ranged from a low of .61 to a high of .85. More detailed results and explanation of thefactor analyses supporting the subscales appear in an article by Bol & Berry (2005).Highlights of the ResultsThe results pertaining to the first research question highlight the complex nature of peoples’perceptions of the achievement gap. When looking at the items that were most strongly endorsedas contributors to the achievement gap, educators endorsed items related to studentcharacteristics that focused on family support, student motivation, peer pressure, and intellectualability. The mean ratings on these items were 4.00 or above. This is important because thesefactors can be perceived as primarily non-school factors that are more resistant to educationalinterventions. The mean ratings obtained on the other three scales were similar and somewhatlower, suggesting moderate levels of agreement.The second research question addressed whether perceptions differed as function of personalcharacteristics of the respondents.  Minority respondents were significantly more likely to agreethat factors related to curriculum and instruction contributed to the achievement gap. Asignificant effect for gender was observed on the Language scale. Females were more likely toattribute the achievement gap to language differences or difficulties.When examining the variation in factor scores by employment position, we found significantdifferences between mathematics supervisors and teachers across all grade levels on the StudentCharacteristic scale. This presents a dilemma because teachers who interact with students on adaily basis perceive that factors such as peer pressure, family support, motivation, intellect, andinterest in mathematics are more contributory to the achievement gap than do mathematicssupervisors. Perhaps, daily contact with students makes teachers more attuned to studentcharacteristics as a contributory factor on student achievement.Our findings illuminate mathematics educators’ perceptions of the causes of the achievementgap. Additionally, they may inform future studies on interventions or strategies aimed atalleviating this gap.ReferencesBerry, III, R.Q. (2004).  The Equity Principle through the voices of African American males.Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 10, 100-103.Bol, L., & Berry, III, R.Q.  (2005). Secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions of theachievement gap.  The High School Journal, 88 (4), 32-46.Ferguson, R.F. (1998).  Teachers’ perceptions and expectations and Black-White test score gap.In C. Jencks & M. Phillips (Eds.), The Black-White test score gap (pp. 273-317).Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of PME-NA, Virginia Tech, October 2005 3Lubienski, S.T. (2003).  A closer look at the Black-White mathematics gaps:  Intersections ofrace, class, and SES in NAEP achievement and instructional practices data.  Journal ofNegro Education, 71, 269-287.Thompson, C. L., & O’Quinn, S. D. (2001). Eliminating the Black-White achievement gap: Asummary of research. Chapel Hill: The North Carolina Education Research Council.

Perceptions of the Mathematics Achievement Gap: A Survey of NCTM Membership

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Perceptions of the Mathematics Achievement Gap: A Survey of NCTM Membership

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