UC San Diego

Student success in high school mathematics is recognized as being one of the most critical factors in determining access to post-secondary education and subsequent success. Currently, the American educational system is failing to prepare a mathematically proficient citizenry able to meet workforce demands. Hence, concerns regarding access to high-quality mathematics education for growing numbers of marginalized groups are increasingly being highlighted as a national issue. This dissertation identifies mechanisms for improving equity in mathematics education for the nation's fastest-growing demographic groups : Latin@s. This qualitative research study examines the classroom experiences of both Latin@ students who are non-native English speakers and their teachers by looking at the instructional practices that students and teachers identify as being pivotal to student mastery of rigorous mathematics content. In addition, this study investigates the relationships between teachers' practices employed in daily lessons, "best practices" identified in research on Latin@s, and the practices students identify as fostering access to mathematics learning. Based on student and teacher interviews, study results indicate that effective teaching practices can be categorized into four major groups : 1) teacher overarching growth mindset practices, 2) teacher-student talk practices, 3) student processing time practices, and 4) partner processing time practices. Finally, the study confirmed that teachers consistently employed those methods that research has previously identified as "best practices" and which students had identified as being important to their learning and understanding; participants described such practices in more detail than prior research. Participants also named several beneficial practices not analyzed in detail by prior researchers