No matter how mathematics achievement and persistence are measured, African Americans seem to lag behind their peers. This state of affairs is typically explained in terms of student ability, family background, differential treatment by teachers, and biased curricula. But what can explain disproportionately poor performance and persistence of African-American students who clearly possess the ability to do well, who come from varied family and socioeconomic backgrounds, who are taught by caring and concerned teachers, and who learn mathematics in the context of a reform-oriented mathematics curriculum? And, why do some African-American students succeed in mathematics when underachievement is the norm among their fellow students? Danny Martin addresses these questions in Mathematics Success and Failure Among African-American Youth, the results of a year-long ethnographic and observational study of African-American students and their parents and teachers.

Mathematics Success and Failure Among African-American Youth goes beyond the conventional explanations of ability, socioeconomic status, differential treatment, and biased curricula to consider the effects of history, community, and peers--and the individual agency that allows some students to succeed despite these influences. Martin's analysis suggests that prior studies of mathematics achievement and persistence among African Americans have failed to link sociohistorical, community, school, and intrapersonal forces in sufficiently meaningful ways, and that they suffer from theoretical and methodological limitations that hinder the ability of mathematics educators to reverse the negative achievement and persistence trends that continue to afflict African-American students.

The analyses and findings offered in Martin's book lead to exciting implications for future research and intervention efforts concerning African-American students--and other students for whom history and context play an important role. This book will be useful and informative to many groups: mathematics education researchers, education researchers interested in the social context of learning and teaching, policymakers, preservice and in-service teachers, students, parents, and community advocates. It will also be of interest to readers concerned with multicultural education, cross-cultural studies of mathematics learning, sociology of education, Black Studies, and issues of underrepresentation in science and mathematics.

Reviews

"The reference list is valuable, and the indexes of authors and topics are helpful. A must for universities with graduate programs in education or African-American studies."
-CHOICE

"Mathematics Success and Failure Among African-American Youth is a well-written and carefully researched book that provides an important integrative and interpretive framework for understanding mathematical outcomes for African American students. It also adds to the sociological and educational literature by providing a nuanced account and perspective of the powerful influence of parents, community, and personal and collective histories on educational outcomes."
-Contemporary Sociology

"Martin's book moves the field forward in some very important ways. It provides a more nuanced account of the complex ways by which mathematics success can be supported among African American students. It moves Ogbu's (1992) and others' work into the field of mathematics....provides us with an insider's view-that is, the view of an African American who is, himself, successful in mathematics--on these issues."
-Contemporary Psychology

"One striking contribution of Martin's book is his analysis of a collection on interviews with four African-American parents of school-aged children....Martin encourages readers to 'work through' these participants' accounts of how mathematics has figured in their own life experience..."
-Educational Researcher

"Mathematics Success and Failure among African-American Youth is strongly recommended not only for those in mathematics education or for African-Americans, but for individuals in other fields and members of other ethnic groups." -- Charles R. Payne, educational HORIZONS, Spring 2002

Book Information
ISBN 9780805861426
Author Danny Bernard Martin
Format Paperback
Page Count 214
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 362g