Effective Mathematics Teaching Methodologies to Overcome Challenges and Increase Achievement in Mathematics

Young people represent 25% of the population at large. More than 40% of those classified as low income (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). Most of the children and youth classified as low income are African American (43%) or Hispanic (40%) and most live in large urban areas (31%). Poverty has clear effects on children both before they enter school and during their tenure in school. Poverty presents many challenges such as Physical environment challenges, social environment challenges, school and classroom environmental challenges, etc. that effect learning mathematics for the students even at the college level. The achievement gap between black and white students for 17-year-olds is 26 points in math, which is roughly equivalent to two or three school years' worth of learning. Recent research confirmed that girls score less than their counterpart males in SAT (math) and the achievement gap is due to culture rather than gender in USA. Research also indicated that geographic factors have contributed to achievement in mathematics. The speaker will present methods and strategies on educating mathematics students addressing inequity and achievement gaps due to gender, race, economic, and geographic factors. The presentation includes teaching strategies to raise expectations and provide strong support for all students in order to achieve measurable improvements. These strategies are student centered, research based such as enquiry based learning, cooperative learning, proper questioning, teaching logical, and spatial thinking