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This study explores the prevalence of deficit and anti-deficit discourses among elementary teachers in the US and their relationship to racist and sexist beliefs about mathematics learning. By combining attribution theory and equity scholarship, the research investigates the endorsement of these discourses through survey data. Findings reveal that both deficit and anti-deficit discourses are common among teachers and strongly related to the endorsement of racist/sexist and anti-racist/anti-sexist statements about mathematics learning. Surprisingly, belief in innate mathematical ability is associated with greater endorsement of anti-racist/anti-sexist educational statements, while belief in educational opportunity is not significantly associated with lesser endorsement of racist and sexist statements. The study emphasizes the need for teacher education to address these tangled discourses and suggests that anti-deficit discourses alone may be insufficient to dismantle deficit discourses in mathematics education. 

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.