TY - JOUR
T1 - Solving for X
T2 - Constructing Algebra and Algebra Policy During a Time of Change
AU - Handsman, Emily
AU - Farrell, Caitlin
AU - Coburn, Cynthia
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the editors and reviewers of Sociology of Education, as well as colleagues Anna-Ruth Allen, Alice Huguet, Bill Penuel, Simone Ispa-Landa, Nadirah Foley, Naomi Blaushild, Anna Michelson, Mallory Fallin, Tim Hallett, and especially Debbie Kim for their invaluable feedback on various stages of this article. We are grateful for the thoughtful administrative support from Natalie Talbert Jou and Bethany Elston, and Northwestern University and University of California Berkeley undergraduate students who contributed to the initial organization of our data. We also thank the district leaders in Cypress Unified School District for allowing us to learn from and with them. This work was generously supported by the William T. Grant Foundation (Grant No. 18092), the Spencer Foundation (Grant No. 201500139), and the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences (Grant Award No. R305B140042).
Funding Information:
This work was generously supported by the William T. Grant Foundation (Grant No. 18092), the Spencer Foundation (Grant No. 201500139), and the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences (Grant Award No. R305B140042).
Publisher Copyright:
© American Sociological Association 2022.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - The year students take Algebra I historically determines how far they progress in secondary mathematics, creating complex equity issues around access to this course. By examining a case study of one large, urban school district adjusting to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M), we demonstrate how district leaders’ interactions, in combination with their organizational and institutional environments, led to an overhaul of the secondary mathematics course pathway, ending in detracked middle school mathematics. We find that district leaders’ deliberations of mathematics policy were constrained by organizational concerns around pedagogy, equity, logistics, and politics. In other words, the disruption created by the CCSS-M was limited by extant organizational priorities. This study has potential implications for theorizing disruptions and for better understanding equity-oriented mathematics policy and practice.
AB - The year students take Algebra I historically determines how far they progress in secondary mathematics, creating complex equity issues around access to this course. By examining a case study of one large, urban school district adjusting to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M), we demonstrate how district leaders’ interactions, in combination with their organizational and institutional environments, led to an overhaul of the secondary mathematics course pathway, ending in detracked middle school mathematics. We find that district leaders’ deliberations of mathematics policy were constrained by organizational concerns around pedagogy, equity, logistics, and politics. In other words, the disruption created by the CCSS-M was limited by extant organizational priorities. This study has potential implications for theorizing disruptions and for better understanding equity-oriented mathematics policy and practice.
KW - STEM
KW - educational policymakers
KW - ethnography
KW - school policy
KW - tracking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127795859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/00380407221087479
DO - 10.1177/00380407221087479
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127795859
SN - 0038-0407
VL - 95
SP - 216
EP - 232
JO - Sociology of Education
JF - Sociology of Education
IS - 3
ER -