New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education

The issue of how to provide equitable schooling for ethnic and linguistic minorities has come to the forefront of education. This volume brings together top researchers to examine equity from the standpoint of mathematics education--an excellent forum for the topic, since the results are quantifiable. The first essays address broad cultural issues, such as how social class and our notion of merit enter into education. The second section of the book analyzes gender issues in math learning, and the final section examines language and mathematics. A number of themes cut across these three groupings. For example, a critique of the reform movement surfaces in several chapters; many of the chapters look closely at teachers and the dynamics of the classroom, and chapters in different sections address issues of teacher empowerment and skill upgrading. Researchers, students, and policy makers in education, psychology, and cognitive science will want to read these provocative contributions.