Parents and Teachers Collaborate to Achieve Equity and Quality in Mathematics: A Case Study

Abstract

Efforts to simultaneously provide equity and quality mathematics programs that close the achievement gap for English learners are multi-faceted. One reason for the failure of these students to prosper in English-only mathematics classrooms is the exclusion of parents from their education. Some educators have low expectations for uneducated, impoverished non English-speaking parents. Assuming the contrary - i.e., that these parents want to and can provide their children with the strongest opportunity for academic success - has two benefits. First, young English learners may perform at the same level as their classmates. Second, families can retain their traditions, with the parents in control. If efforts to include the parents are early and rigorous, these students have a better chance to advance in mathematics to the same level as their English-speaking peers. This chapter illustrates the benefits of such inclusion of parents by a project in one school in the United States. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011.