The current study explored individual and gendered differences in Black students' motivation for learning mathematics using three key Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) constructs (expectancies of success, in-terest, and importance). It also evaluated whether math motivational profiles in 6th grade or 10th grade pre-dicted math achievement and STEM career aspirations in 10th grade among Black students while controlling for prior math achievement. Black students (n = 408, 55% female) attending schools in a metropolitan area of Tennessee, USA and mostly from families surviving economic marginalization completed surveys and math achievement assessments across middle and high school. Latent Profile Analysis identified three profiles of math motivation in 6th grade, including a profile of high motivation across constructs, and Black girls were less likely to be in the high motivational profile than Black boys. Profile membership in 6th grade predicted 10th grade math achievement. In contrast, math motivation profiles in 6th grade did not predict STEM career aspirations in 10th grade. Parallel analyses for concurrent relations in 10th grade were similar, except that there were no gender differences in profile prevalence. Overall, findings suggest that SEVT is useful for understanding moti-vation and academic performance among Black students when a person-centered analytic approach is used, but more work is needed to expand the theory to understand the development of Black students' STEM career aspirations.

The current study is a conceptual replication of the influence of an advanced educational opportunity and several student propensities to learn on a college-readiness assessment for mathematics (ACT scores) among an important and under-studied group of students. We focused on a sample of predominantly Black students from economically-disadvantaged homes in the U.S. (n = 329; 80% Black, 59% female, 66% whose parents had a high-school diploma or less). Accelerated course placement (high-school math course in 8th grade) was a unique predictor of math ACT scores above and beyond prior math achievement and other variables (B = 1.5). In line with a fade-out model, executive function skill in 6th grade was not a unique predictor with other predictors in the model. In line with emerging findings with marginalized students, mathematics self-concept in 6th grade was also not a unique predictor. Finally, students' mathematics achievement at age 4 predicted their math ACT scores in 12th grade (B = .69), as did their middle-school mathematics achievement in number, algebra, and geometry (B = .43-.67), which mediated the relation between mathematics achievement at age 4 and math ACT scores. Findings highlight the importance of advanced academic opportunities, which national data indicates marginalized students are less likely to receive, the diminishing role of individual differences in executive function skill as children develop domain knowledge, the diminished role of math self-concept for predicting achievement among marginalized students, and the strong stability in math achievement.

BackgroundTo accurately measure students' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career interest, researchers must get inside the 'black box' to understand students' conceptualizations of STEM careers.AimsThe aim of Study 1 was to explore whether students' conceptualizations of STEM included medical careers. The aim of Study 2 was to explore whether predictors of STEM career interest (e.g., gender and motivation) varied by STEM definition (inclusion/exclusion of medical careers).SamplesIn Study 1, the sample was US college students (N = 125) who were mostly White (80%). In Study 2, the sample was US 10th-grade high school students (N = 455) who were mostly Black (79%).MethodsIn Study 1, students completed an online questionnaire. In Study 2, students completed various measures of math achievement, motivation (science and math expectancies of success, interest and importance value) and career interest with an importance.ResultsIn Study 1, medical careers were less often classified as STEM careers than traditional STEM careers, but more often classified as STEM than non-STEM careers. In Study 2, science importance value was the only motivational predictor of students' STEM+Medicine career interest, and no motivation constructs predicted traditional STEM career interest. Boys expressed greater interest in traditional STEM careers, while girls expressed greater interest in STEM+Medicine careers.ConclusionsStudents' conceptualizations of STEM are not binary. Thus, we recommend researchers are explicit about their definition of STEM with study participants, in their coding and in their publications.

This study reports high school Black girls' experiences in mathematics classrooms. Forty-eight Black girls participated in 12 focus groups. Findings showed that the girls experienced uncaring teachers, uninteresting curriculum, and unsupportive learning environments. We used a sociopolitical analytic approach to make sense of their narratives and theorized how these experiences could relate to discourses of intersectional harm. We argue that discourses of (1) silencing and dismissiveness and (2) erasure of intellect manifested in their mathematics classrooms and served as barriers to their positive mathematics identity development. We propose a vision for disrupting these discourses of intersectional harm.

Understanding how marginalized students experience and perceive mathematics is critical to achieving the goal of inclusive and equitable math pedagogy. We report on 67 focus groups with 251 predominantly Black high schoolers experiencing economic marginalization in the Southern United States and attended to their achievement level and race-gender identities. Students often shared concerns about their teacher's math knowledge for teaching and effectiveness in supporting academic success. Their self-perceptions of math identities varied, and students often did not value advanced math even when they expressed career interests that require advanced math. We discuss practical implications for supporting the math development of marginalized high schoolers, including centering the needs and strengths of Black girls, and propose an expanded inclusive and equitable pedagogical framework.

Marginalized students face a range of gaps in experience, highlighting the importance of understanding these students’ perspectives on their opportunities to learn. The current study contributes to this effort by reporting on marginalized students’ experiences and liking of mathematics instructional strategies in middle-school mathematics classrooms in a large metropolitan school district in the Southern U.S. Middle-school students (N = 466), many of whom attended racially segregated schools, sorted instructional strategies and discussed their experiences with the strategies in small groups or interviews. Most students reported that traditional and student-focused instructional strategies happened in their mathematics class, but fewer student-focused strategies were experienced in racially segregated schools than in racially balanced schools. Most students reported liking all but one of the student-focused strategies and not liking the traditional strategies. Common reasons that emerged during discussions of why students liked particular instructional strategies were that it provided opportunities to learn, built their confidence or increased their interest. Overall, marginalized students’ experiences and views should inform efforts to increase the instructional opportunities for all students. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.