Diversity and Equity Issues in Mathematics and Science Education:

What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

 

Fifth Annual NISE Forum: May 22-23, 2000    Westin Hotel, Detroit, Michigan

 

This year’s NISE Forum emphasized building a research agenda for an important and increasingly critical topic in mathematics and science education. The first focus was on grades K-12.  However, there also was a special program strand - across the secondary and undergraduate levels. The questions below guided Forum discussions within mathematics and science education.

 

What Do We Know?

 

·        What does research indicate to be the most pressing problems that we face in addressing diversity and equity issues? 

·         What do we know to be effective for addressing these problems? How do we know it? 

·         Are there existing research findings that should be more widely disseminated to dispel misconceptions about how to effectively address diversity and equity goals?

 

What Do We Need to Know? 

·         What research is needed in the future? What are your criteria for these recommendations?  

·         Are there new lines of research that should be pursued? Are there existing lines of research that should be strengthened or deemphasized? 

Speakers, Panelists, Discussants, and Chairs  

Lloyd Bond  Vinetta Jones Jeannie Oakes  
Edward Britton Maria Klawe Andrew Porter
Patricia Campbell  Carole LaCampagne Senta Raizen
Juanita Clay Chambers Okhee Lee Judith Sunley 
Warren Chapman Julio Lopez-Ferrao Larry Suter
Elizabeth Fennema Sharon Lynch Richard Tapia
Manuel Gomez Robert Mathieu     Norman Webb
Edmond Gordon Kent McGuire   

 

Steering Committee:  

Juanita Clay Chambers

Julio Lopez-Ferrao    

Richard Tapia   

Jane Butler Kahle 

Walter Secada     

William Tate  

 

 

 

 

Forum Panel Topics 

The Forum was organized around the three panels described below. Each panel was followed by facilitated, small group discussions. Additionally, in the closing plenary session, a variety of participants were asked to provide their impressions of what was most important during the Forum’s panels and small group discussions. Also, Ed Gordon will recap critical points.

Content and Instructional Methods 

·         What mathematics and science content should be taught to permit students from diverse cultures to learn these subjects? 

·         What instructional methods are effective for reaching students from diverse cultures? 

Programs to Promote Diversity and Equity  

·         How can programs that address diversity and equity issues be most effective? 

·         What are the most pressing diversity and equity issues in teacher preparation and professional development, and how can they be addressed effectively? 

·         What future research is needed to better understand program effectiveness? 

Achievement and Course Taking  

·         What is known about the courses taken by students from various populations and their achievement in them? 

·         What importance should be placed on student achievement data in future research? 

·         What do we need to know about the features of different types of assessment items and how students from diverse cultures respond to them?

Special Postsecondary Strand –
                           Making Undergraduate and Secondary Efforts Complementary

Panel on Content and Instructional Practices. How can the content and instructional methods of courses in secondary school and the first year of college be made as complementary as possible in promoting sustained, effective attention to diversity and equity issues?  

Panel on Programs. How can programs for addressing diversity and equity issues in secondary school and those for the first year of college be made as complementary as possible?  

Panel on Achievement and Course Taking Patterns. What is known about the courses taken by students from various populations and their achievement in them at the undergraduate level? How do these patterns compare to those at the secondary level?

 

 

About the Forum 

Each year, NISE brings leaders in the mathematics and science education communities together for a roll-up-the-sleeves review of pressing topics in their fields. The experts asked to serve on the panels write briefing papers that are circulated prior to the Forum. Forum participants are accomplished researchers or educational leaders, who often are as expert as the panelists. Therefore, the small group discussions are as important as the panels they follow. In each discussion section, every participant is asked to briefly provide written feedback on the panel’s presentations. Summaries of the discussions also are collected. These individual and collective comments are reviewed after the Forum and help inform the Forum proceedings that are mailed to every participant. Primary support for the annual NISE Forum comes from the Institute’s grant from the National Science Foundation. This year, the Comprehensive Regional Assistance Center Consortium (Region VI) also is contributing to the Forum. The Center is supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

 

Previous participants have indicated in evaluations that the NISE Forum is exceptional at drawing leaders, stimulating intellectually rich conversations about important topics, providing quality time to network, and making respectful use of participants’ time. We limit the Forum to 300, permitting us to assign participants to groups of approximately 10. This ensures productive small-group discussions where all participants have time to contribute their expertise. Note that enrollment is on a first-come, first-served, and the Forum has been oversubscribed in most years.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 About the Audience 

NISE fellows and staff have conducted research on diversity and equity during the Institute’s first four years. (See the publications section of the NISE Web site, www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/Publications/). The Forum is designed to broker a discussion about this topic among prominent researchers and leaders from all relevant professional communities, not just those involved with the Institute. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Institute 

The National Science Foundation launched the NISE in 1995 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with the Washington-based National Center for Improving Science Education as its chief partner. The Institute’s faculty and fellows are conducting research and development in science, mathematics, engineering and technology education across grades K-16. Leading the Institute is Andrew Porter, Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, along with co-directors Barrett Caldwell, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, and Robert Mathieu, Professor of Astronomy. The Forum is organized by Ted Britton, Associate Director of NCISE, with advice and assistance from Senta Raizen, Director of NCISE, Andy Porter, Robert Mathieu, the Forum’s Steering Committee, and several NSF program officers, particularly Julio Lopez and Larry Suter. 

Papers and Overheads from Forum Presentations