Understanding Parent Motivation to Oppose Detracking Middle School Mathematics: Mental Contrasting Triggers White Exemptionism
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Date
2024-01-09
Authors
Ahearn, Madeline
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Tracking is the practice of sorting students into courses based on their perceived ability. Middle school mathematics programs commonly track students into leveled courses with differential access to curriculum, instructional practices and future courses. With 40 years of research to draw on, every professional organization of mathematics educators advocates ceasing the practice of tracking. This is in large part due to the racialized and classed outcomes tracking reproduces. Nevertheless, tracking persists in middle school mathematics courses. Research demonstrates that parent opposition to detracking partially explains the persistence of the practice, but this research has not been specific to tracking mathematics courses in particular, nor has it critically examined race within this context. Therefore, my research asked what motivates parents to oppose detracking mathematics courses and, how are elements of Whiteness expressed through their opposition. Via a nested case study, I investigated these questions through in-depth interviews with parents at one middle school and contextualized those with administrator interviews across four school districts. By extending Oettingen’s (2000) concept of mental contrasting with Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Ecological Systems Theory I found that some of the parents in my study held multiple goals for their students' mathematical experience. Despite the expectation of administrators and the consensus from reviewed literature, the majority of parents in my study did not hold the goal of a procedural mathematics experience for their child. However, I found three goals influenced by mesosystem and macrosystem factors that did contrast with detracking producing the motivation to oppose. Additionally, I found that some parents use Bonilla-Silva’s (2003/2022) colorblind frames to rationalize racial disparities in access to high-tracked mathematics. Extending this theory, I develop the frame White exemptionism and define it as the colorblind move to acknowledge the benefit of equity-initiatives for oppressed and marginalized people only to claim exemption from participating, thereby perpetuating inequity. From my findings, I infer three productive moves for administrators aimed at helping them move their detracking projects forward in the face of parent opposition as well as recommendations for future research regarding my extensions of both mental contrasting and colorblind racism.
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Keywords
Colorblind Racism, Detracking, Mathematics, Mental Contrasting, Parents