Collaborative Research: Promoting Equity in Early Mathematics Education for Latinx Children in Head Start Programs

幼儿时期的数学学习为不断接触数学和STEM奠定了基础，支持了阅读等各种其他领域的发展，也是长期学术成就的重要预测因素。鉴于早期数学的重要性，研究人员和教育工作者创建了各种以课堂为重点的资源，以支持数学学习、思维和技能发展。然而，这些资源中的许多没有考虑到父母和家庭学习环境在支持数学学习和参与方面所起的重要作用。目前的努力在消除对家庭的赤字观点和超越主要基于从白人、单一语言、中产阶级和上层社区学习的文化模式的参与战略和活动结构方面也走得不够远。为了在幼儿时期实现公平数学学习的新愿景，重要的是打破小规模家庭和学校之间的权力等级制度，并重新定位父母在儿童数学学习中的中心地位。教育工作者和研究人员还必须重新定义植根于边缘化和歧视历史的传统数学观念。为了推进解决这些系统性障碍的方法，该项目Viviendo Matematicas将进行一项基于公平信息的设计实施研究(DBIR)研究，目的是开发一种潜在的变革性模式，与拉美裔家庭和幼儿教育工作者合作，塑造更公平的学龄前数学教育愿景。该项目与俄勒冈州波特兰市、纽约州和拉丁克斯市的Head Start教育工作者合作，父母的学龄前儿童(3-5岁)基于家庭较低的收入而符合Head Start资格，该项目将通过使用对话和基于资产的方法来扩展先前的公平工作，以扩大家庭内现有的数学知识和实践，扩大我们对课堂内外数学的集体理解和欣赏，并确定可与其他社区共享的家长教育者合作的设计原则。通过以社区为基础的迭代设计过程，该项目将提供：(A)描述Latinx幼儿数学实践的基于力量的框架，(B)支持家长-教育工作者数学对话小组的方案模型和相关资源，以及(C)对话方案的设计原则和理论框架，以及它如何支持更公平的数学学习愿景。通过重组家长和学校之间的传统关系，该项目寻求赋予拉丁裔家长和家庭权力，使其成为子女教育的平等合作伙伴和倡导者，并支持为我们社区的Head Start计划创建可持续的资源，使其与家庭的目标和价值观保持一致。该合作项目由STEM教育中的种族平等计划(EDU Race Equity)资助。该计划支持研究和实践项目，调查种族平等因素如何影响科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育和劳动力的改善。获奖项目寻求集中受STEM企业内部系统性不平等影响最大的个人、社区和机构的声音、知识和经验。该计划符合NSF的核心价值，即支持来自全国不同人口群体、地区和组织类型的杰出研究人员和创新思想家。EDU各地的计划为种族平等计划提供资金，以表彰其项目与理事会四个部门的集体研究和开发努力的一致性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Mathematics learning in early childhood lays a foundation for ongoing engagement with math and STEM, supports development across a variety of other domains like reading, and is an important predictor of long-term academic achievement. Given the importance of early math, researchers and educators have created a variety of classroom-focused resources to support mathematical learning, thinking, and skill development. However, many of these resources do not take into account the important roles that parents, and the home learning environment play in supporting math learning and engagement. Current efforts also do not go far enough in countering deficit perspectives on families and moving beyond engagement strategies and activity structures based primarily on cultural models of learning from White, monolingual, middle- and upper-class communities. To achieve a new vision of equitable math learning in early childhood, it is important to disrupt power hierarchies between minoritized families and schools and reposition parents as central to children’s mathematics learning. Educators and researchers must also reconceptualize traditional ideas about math that are rooted in histories of marginalization and discrimination.To advance approaches for addressing these systemic barriers, the project, Viviendo Matematicas, will conduct an equity-informed design-based implementation research (DBIR) study with the goal of developing a potentially transformative model for collaborating with Latinx families and early childhood educators to shape a more equitable vision of mathematics education in the preschool years. Partnering with Head Start educators in Portland, OR, and New York, NY and Latinx parents with preschool-age children (3–5 years) who are Head Start eligible based on the household's lower income, the project will extend prior equity work by using dialogic and asset-based approaches to amplify existing math knowledge and practices within families, broaden our collective understanding and appreciation of mathematics inside and outside the classroom, and identify design principles for parent educator collaborations that can be shared with other communities. Through the iterative, community-based design process, the project will deliver: (a) a strength-based framework describing Latinx early childhood math practices, (b) a program model and associated resources for supporting parent-educator math dialogue groups, and (c) design principles and theoretical frameworks underlying the dialogue program and how it supports a more equitable vision of math learning. By reorganizing traditional relationships between parents and school, the project seeks to empower Latinx parents and families as equal partners and advocates for their children’s education, as well as support the creation of sustainable resources for Head Start programs in our communities that align with families’ goals and values.This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EDU Racial Equity). The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This program aligns with NSF’s core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Programs across EDU contribute funds to the Racial Equity program in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.