Teacher Tracking in High School Mathematics

An Inequitable Structure

Authors

Keywords:

Equity, teacher tracking, senority, mathematics, high school

Abstract

NCTM identified teacher tracking as a persistent inequitable structure in high school mathematics. In our statewide research study, we found that almost 70% of high school mathematics teachers are tracked. Teachers with different seniority levels are tracked in very different ways. Next, we discuss issues with teaching tracking from teacher and student perspectives. Finally, we provide several questions for high school mathematics departments to initiate critical conversations about how and why courses are assigned to teachers.

Author Biographies

Wayne Nirode, Miami University

Wayne Nirode is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Nirode teaches content courses for preservice and in-service teachers. His teaching, research, and service all focus on supporting and understanding the context in which K–12 mathematics teachers work. His research interests focus on the teaching and learning of high school geometry especially proof and the use of Dynamic Geometry Software.

Brian Boyd, Wright State University

Brian Boyd is an associate professor at Wright State University with a joint appointment in the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Brian’s interests include student-centered and project-based learning; teacher development; school leadership; teaching reasoning and proof; and teacher tracking. While at WSU, Dr. Boyd served as the Founding Principal of the Dayton Regional STEM School.

References

Bush, S. B., Huniker, D., & Graham, K. J. (2024). Dismantling inequitable structures, Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK–12, 117(4), 262–267. https://doi.org/10.5951/ MTLT.2023.0287

Francis, B., Hodgen, J., Craig, N., Taylor, B., Archer, L., Mazenod, A., Tereshchenko, A., & Connolly, P. (2019). Teacher “quality” and attainment grouping: The role of within-school teacher deployment in social and educational inequality. Teaching and Teacher Educa- tion, 77, 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.001

Grissom, J. A., Kalogrides, D., & Loeb, S. (2015). The micropolitics of educational inequality: The case of teacher-student assignments. Peabody Journal of Education, 90(5), 601–614. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2015.1087768

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2018). Catalyzing change in high school mathematics: Initiating critical conversations.

Nirode, W., & Boyd, B. (2023). The prevalence of teacher tracking in high school mathematics departments. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 54(1), 7–23. https://doi.org/ 10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0296

Papay, J. P., & Kraft, M. A. (2015). Productivity returns to experience in the teacher labor market: Methodological challenges and new evidence on long-term career improvement. Journal of Public Economics, 130, 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.02.008

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Published

2024-05-26

How to Cite

Nirode, W., & Boyd, B. (2024). Teacher Tracking in High School Mathematics: An Inequitable Structure. hio ournal of chool athematics, 96(1), 57–61. etrieved from http://voyager.janeway.systems:9999/index.php/OJSM/article/view/9895

Issue

Vol. 96: Spring 2024

Section

Articles

License

By submitting this agreement, the author hereby grants to The Ohio State University, on behalf of its University Libraries