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

幼儿期的数学学习为持续参与数学和STEM奠定了基础，支持阅读等各种其他领域的发展，并且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已经创建了各种以课堂为中心的资源，以支持数学学习，思维和技能发展。然而，许多这些资源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发挥的重要作用。目前的努力还远远不够，无法消除对家庭的负面看法，也无法超越主要以向白色、单语、中产阶级和上层社会学习的文化模式为基础的参与战略和活动结构。为了实现幼儿期公平数学学习的新愿景，必须打破少数群体家庭和学校之间的权力等级，并将父母重新定位为儿童数学学习的中心。教育工作者和研究人员还必须重新认识根植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，Viviendo Matematicas项目，将进行基于公平的设计实施研究（DBIR）这项研究的目标是开发一种潜在的变革模式，与拉丁家庭和幼儿教育工作者合作，塑造一个更好的教育模式。学前数学教育的公平观。 与俄勒冈州波特兰和纽约州纽约的启蒙教育工作者以及有学龄前儿童的拉丁裔父母合作（3-5岁）谁是头开始资格的基础上，家庭的收入较低，该项目将扩大以前的公平工作，使用对话和资产为基础的方法，以扩大现有的数学知识和做法的家庭，扩大我们对课堂内外数学的集体理解和欣赏，并确定可以与其他社区分享的家长教育合作的设计原则。通过反复的、基于社区的设计过程，该项目将提供：（a）一个描述拉丁美洲幼儿数学实践的基于实力的框架，（B）一个支持家长-教育者数学对话小组的程序模型和相关资源，以及（c）对话程序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，该项目旨在使拉丁裔家长和家庭成为平等的合作伙伴，并倡导他们的孩子的教育，以及支持在我们的社区，与家庭的目标和价值观相一致的开端计划创造可持续的资源。这个合作项目是通过STEM教育计划中的种族平等（EDU种族平等）资助的。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。获奖项目旨在集中STEM企业内受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的核心价值观，即支持来自全国人口群体，地区和组织类型多样性的优秀研究人员和创新思想家。教育大学的各个项目为种族平等项目提供资金，以表彰其项目与董事会四个部门的集体研究和开发目标的一致性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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.