The Effect of Culturally Relevant Education in Math Instruction for English Language Learners: An Examination of Math Achievement
and Math Efficacy
Kevin Anderson, Doctoral Candidate in the Teaching and Learning Program
Introduction
There is an influx of ELL students migrating to the United States from all grade levels, both primary and secondary (Sugarman, 2023). The struggle of ELL students’achievement in secondary mathematics education is not just a statistic but should be a pressing concern in the United States educational system since there is an increase of adolescent migrants entering the country (Sugarman, 2023). There is a need for a mathematics curriculum that is inclusive for ELL students, so that they can be as successful as native English-speaking students (Moschkovich, 2013).Although mathematics can be seen as a universal language in which students work with numbers to solve problems, conceptual and reading comprehension must occur in a mathematics lesson for students to succeed in mathematics classes. Therefore, U.S. education must train and support with the appropriate curriculum for ELL students in mathematics.
Secondary schools face challenges in supporting the assimilation and academic success of immigrant students (Drake, 2017; Potochnick, 2018). Immigrant students who arrive as high school students have a short time to master skills, such as the English language, and graduate on time (Flint et al., 2018; Potochnick, 2018). This challenges teachers to comprehend the diversity and multiple languages students bring to their mathematics classrooms (Barba et al., 2019; Rodriguez et al.,2020). Educators are faced with finding alternative teaching strategies to support newcomer-first-generation immigrants, particularly older adolescent students who arrive inAmerica when their education could have been interrupted (Drake, 2017; Potochnick, 2018). Immigrant students who arrive in the United States during their secondary school years, whether as refugees or unaccompanied minors, face challenging obstacles as they look to scheme learning a new language and culture while simultaneously attempting to close the knowledge gap and get on track to pass the required course work to graduate high school (Migration Policy Institute, 2017). They have less time than middle and elementary school students to recover what education they lost before graduating (Flint et al., 2018; Hansen-Thomas et al.,2020).
This study explores the concept of culturally relevant education (Aronson & Laughter, 2016) as it illustrates empirical research that promotes a more explicit connection between culturally relevant mathematics lessons and mathematical achievement and self-efficacy among ELL students in a 9th-grade bilingual Algebra I classrooms (Gutstein, 2003). CRE provides relevant materials that engage ELL students during the lesson. The use of CRE includes closely related approaches that operate under the same mathematical principles but with different teaching techniques (Aronson & Laughter, 2016). CRE emphasizes drawing on students’cultural and linguistic backgrounds to make lessons more relevant and meaningful for them (Nieto, 1999). The research study tests whether culturally relevant lessons help improve ELL students’mathematical achievement and self-efficacy scores.
Methods
This study used a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of culturally relevant education in mathematics instruction for English language learners. The study included 75 high school ELL students from diverse backgrounds enrolled in anAlgebra I extended mathematics course. The participants were assigned to either the control group or the treatment group. The control group received standardized Algebra I instruction. In contrast, the treatment group received culturally relevant Algebra I instruction, including students’ cultural backgrounds and experiences with mathematical concepts and problem-solving skills. The research included pre-tests and post-tests, a standard mathematics lesson aligned with New York State, a culturally relevant mathematics lesson, New York State Regents questions, and a mathematics self-efficacy survey.After the study has been completed, descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, reliability test, MANOVA, and paired t-test were conducted to analyze the data. This methods section outlined a rigorous design to investigate the impact of culturally relevant teaching on ELL students’mathematics performance and self-efficacy. Example 1:
Control Group Question
Jim Gourmet Pretzel Shop especializa en la venta de los más finos pretzels cubiertos de chocolate. Sam compró 4 pretzels de chocolate blanco y 6 pretzels de chocolate negro para $10.50. Trevor compró 8 chocolate blanco y 3 galletas de chocolate negro para $9.75. Cuanto cuesta un pretzels de chocolate blanco y de chocolate negro.
Treatment Group Question
David y Kim están vendiendo comidad para recaudar fondos de la escuela. Los clientes pueden comprar pupusas y tamales. David vendió 4 pupusas y 4 tamales por un total de $20. Kim vendió una pupusa y 3 tamales para un total de $11. ¿Cuál es el costo de cada pupusa y tamal?
Results
The results of CRE research illustrate the impact of culturally relevant lessons designed for ELL students. IBM SPSS analyzed the data from the study to provide the following: descriptive statistics, reliability, correlation, MANOVA, and dependent t-test reports. The descriptive statistics provided the means and standard deviation values on ELL students’ performance in the pre- and posttest mathematical achievement exam and self-efficacy survey scores. The reliability of the self-efficacy survey questions was validated using the intraclass correlation and Cronbach’s alpha test. Both reliability exams indicate a strong validity of the mathematical self-efficacy questions. A Pearson correlation report showed that ELL students’ pre- and post-mathematic achievement and selfefficacy survey scores have a significant positive relationship. For this study, the correlation analysis details ELL students' improved achievement scores and selfefficacy.
The overall MANOVA test research illustrates that the Wilks’ Lambda does not show significance. However, the results of the MANOVA found that the post-mathematics achievement scores for the treatment group were significantly different than the control group's post-test mathematics achievement scores. The significant postmathematic achievement scores for the treatment group demonstrate the positive impact of culturally relevant lessons. Lastly, the dependent samples t-test was conducted to analyze the results of ELL students on culturally relevant lessons to ascertain if their mathematics achievement and self-efficacy would improve. The outcome of the dependent t-test showed that culturally relevant lessons and the state standard lessons on two systems of equations and problems did improve mathematics achievement scores and self-efficacy. For this analysis, the treatment group improved more than the control group.
Discussion
The increase of multilingual learners in secondary mathematics classrooms has caused mathematical achievement scores to plummet compared to mainstream students. The present study’s results show that CRE does help ELL students improve their mathematical achievements. Moreover, secondary schools can foster culturally relevant curricula to support multilingual students in secondary mathematics courses. Unfortunately, this study's ELL students did not improve their mathematical self-efficacy scores. The lack of self-efficacy improvement could be due to the limited time for this research. Alongitudinal study would better illustrate the effects of mathematical self-efficacy among ELL students. The limitations of this study highlight the potential flaws that could skew the results of the data. The limited research time for this study, research practitioner involvement, using only one school district, students' self-reporting of mathematical self-efficacy, and nonrandom assignment of participants are some variables that could have impacted the research data.
This study validates that CRE lessons can impact ELL students’comprehension of mathematical topics (Aronson & Laughter, 2016). The significance of CRE academic achievement can have practical implications for the education field. Given the research's findings on CRE and mathematical self-efficacy, the study suggests that school districts should prioritize CRE and develop a CRE curriculum to support ELL students in secondary math courses. School districts could create supplemental CRE lessons that align with the state standards to support their ELL population.
As the world shifts to a more technological society, the workforce demands more mathematically literate adults. To adjust to a technological world, the U.S. education system is reforming mathematics education and working to increase student mathematical proficiency (Sandilos et al.,2020). However, a conspicuous achievement gap in mathematics exists between ELL and non-ELL students (Hussar et al.,2020). Mathematical achievement gaps harm many ELL students, since mathematical literacy positively affects an individual’s career track (National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008). ELL students who do not have access to upper-level mathematics courses are restricted from specific fields and careers. It is paramount that the education system, especially for marginalized ELL students, provides proficient mathematical literacy. For this reason, providing ELL students with CRE lessons is one way to increase their mathematical achievement, selfefficacy, and mathematical literacy to help the new technological world we live in today.