Meeting the Curricular Needs of Academically Low-Achieving Students in Middle Grade Mathematics

A central tenet of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards (1989, 2000) has been that all students can succeed in complex mathematics. This tenet is commonly referred to as the equity principle, and while it is acknowledged that students do not need to be treated in the same way, the NCTM Standards and other influential policy documents (e.g., Measuring What Counts, National Academy of Sciences, 1993) nonetheless advocate that all children should have access to a coherent, challenging mathematics curriculum. Since the early 1990s, some critics have been understandably skeptical of this principle, particularly given the NCTM Standards’ considerable emphasis on conceptual understanding, problem solving, and constructivist pedagogy (Harris & Graham, 1996; Woodward & Montague, 2002). Some of the more widely cited studies of equity in the mathematics literature have focused on low-income, ethnically diverse students. Results from the Algebra Project (Moses, 2001), QUASAR (Quantitative Understanding Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning; NCTM, 1999; Silver, Smith, & Nelson, 1995), and Cognitively Guided Instruction (Fennema, Franke, Carpenter, & Carey, 1993) indicate that challenging mathematics programs—which emphasize conceptual understanding, problem solving, and communication—have promise for minority students. These findings are important because there is a historical tendency to place far too many poor students from ethnically diverse backgrounds in low-track, skills-based classrooms (Schoenfeld, 2002; Secada, Fennema, & Adajain, 1995). However, efforts to craft one rigorous curriculum for all students has proven more difficult than many in the matheMeeting the Curricular Needs of Academically Low-Achieving Students in Middle Grade Mathematics