Beliefs teachers hold influence the judgments they make about their students, and opportunities they provide for engaging them in rigorous mathematics. While math-related beliefs have been widely studied, less is known about teachers’ attributional beliefs (i.e., beliefs about people’s actions or behaviors) for mathematical success. In this study we investigated in-service elementary teachers’ stated beliefs about mathematical success. Findings show that teachers attribute mathematical success to factors that are both internal and external to the student. Although teachers explicitly stated that race and gender were not factors, many used descriptors that served as proxies for students’ demographic markers.
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Race, Gender, and Teacher Equity Beliefs: Construct Validation of the Attributions of Mathematical Excellence Scale
Teachers’ beliefs can have powerful consequences on instructional decisions and student learning. However, little research focuses on how teachers’ beliefs about the role of race and gender in mathematics teaching and learning influence educational equity within classrooms. This gap is partly due to the lack of studies focused on variation within classrooms, which in turn is hampered by the lack of instruments designed to measure mathematics-specific equity beliefs. In this study of 313 preservice and practicing elementary teachers, we report evidence of construct validity for the Attributions of Mathematical Excellence Scale. Factor analyses provide support for a four-factor structure, including genetic, social, personal, and educational attributions. The findings suggest that the same system of attribution beliefs underlies both racial and gender prejudice among elementary mathematics teachers. The Attributions of Mathematical Excellence Scale has the potential to provide a useful outcome measure for equity-focused interventions in teacher education and professional development.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10429790
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AERA Open
- Volume:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2332-8584
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 233285842211309
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221130999
