Where are the boundaries of mathematics education (policy)? : Comparing two school districts and their subject-matter contexts
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Thesis
Subject
Abstract
To achieve ambitious and equitable mathematics education, districts will likely have to extend their improvement efforts beyond the bounds of classroom teaching and learning. However, the literature has yet to explore the boundaries that determine which policies are relevant (or not) to mathematics, or how the subject-matter acts as a context for such framing. To that end, I conducted a comparative case study of two school districts through interviews with district leaders, observations of policymaking, and collection of artifacts. Mediated by the size and segmentation of districts' organizational structures, I found that districts' policy boundaries were shaped by the dominant mathematics-related discourses circulating in the district and its local community, including discourses related to accountability and the subject's epistemology. Discourses related to equity and pedagogy were more contested, and also less influential in boundary framing. Though there was some attention to inquiry-oriented instruction at one district, both districts' boundaries around mathematics were primarily constrained to issues of achievement. Subject-neutral policies were sometimes implemented in mathematics-specific ways, but other subject-neutral policies--including equity-minded efforts--never crossed into mathematics. These findings suggest that researchers and educational leaders interested in reshaping districts' policy boundaries should attend to how the subject-matter interacts with policies--even seemingly subject-neutral ones--to constrain policy enactment.
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
Ph. D.