PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY
WHITLOWE R. GREEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Doctoral Defense Announcement
April 14, 2014
The Effect of Selected Teaching Strategies Utilized by Secondary
Mathematics Teachers on the Achievement of African American
Male Students
Jimmie Bennett
B.S. Texas A&M University;
M.Ed., Prairie View A&M University
Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Pamela T. Freeman
ABSTRACT
Lerman (2000) identifies that the greatest challenge for research in mathematics is
bringing together cultural, historical and social origins that influence the way people think,
behave, reason and understand the world. Lerman believes that the realm of traditional
mathematics should delve deeper into how social, political, economic and cultural structures as
well as discourses of society affect the construction of students, teachers, and their learning of
mathematics. African American male adolescents face challenges that impact their learning and
performance (Jackson, 2011). According to Jackson, “many middle and high schools are plagued
with retention issues, core class failures, low performance on achievement tests, increased
discipline problems and decreased attendance rates among students during their preteen years
especially among African American male adolescents.” In addition, Albert Bandura (1997)
suggests that people learn through observing others’ behaviors, attitudes and the outcome of
those behaviors. More specifically, students code and decode how secondary teachers perform in
the educational setting as well as other adult behaviors outside classroom doors (Collinson
2000). Bandura’s (1997) social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous
reciprocal interaction between cognitive behavioral and environmental influences. This theory
implies that secondary teachers should interact with students through authentic modeling,
valuable mental images and positive communicative skills.
The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to add to the limited
amount of research on effective instructional strategies utilized by secondary school teachers to
improve African American male scores on mathematic assessments and state mandated tests. In
addition to identifying specific selected teaching strategies, this study intended to examine
information on the thought processes used by mathematics secondary school teachers.
Descriptive research was used to obtain information concerning the current status of the
phenomena to describe what exists with respect to variables or conditions in a secondary
mathematics classroom. Quantitative data was gathered through two methods:
(1)
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) supplied information showing secondary
mathematics teachers having a majority of African American male students passing the
State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, given in
2011/2012/2013 and,
(2)
Identified common selected teaching strategies which contributed to the success factors
in secondary schools that showed why African American male students achieve in
mathematics.
This causal-comparative study used quantitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of
selected teaching strategies utilized by 6-12th grade secondary mathematics teachers and the best
methods used to help African American males succeed on standardized math tests in a large
urban school district in the southern region of Texas. The study also gave the demographics and
educational factors associated with teaching secondary mathematics.
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Collinson, E. (2000). A survey of elementary students' learning style preferences and academic
success. Contemporary Education, 71(4), 42.
Jackson, C. (2011). A study of the relationship between the developmental assets framework and
the academic success of at-risk elementary to middle school transitioning students.
Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 71.
Lerman, M. (2000). Fundamental constructs in mathematics. London and New York: The Open
University.
Dissertation Chair: Dr. Pamela T. Freeman
Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Michael McFrazier
Dr. William H. Parker
Dr. William Ross
Dr. Lucian Yates, III
Date: __April 14, 2014_________
Department: Educational Leadership and Counseling
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Location/Room: Delco 240___________________
Dissertation Chair: Dr. Pamela T. Barber-Freeman