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Attitudes of urban high school mathematics teachers toward the mandate requiring algebra for high school graduation

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Date Issued:
2000
Summary:
The purpose of this study was to determine if urban high school mathematics teachers' attitudes toward the algebra mandate could be predicted by the variables: years of teaching mathematics, college major, highest college degree, gender, and ethnicity. Toward this end, the Attitude Toward the Algebra Mandate Survey (TATAMS) was administered to 98 high school mathematics teachers drawn from a total population of 493 who were employed by the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, during the 1998--1999 School Year. The study was carried out in June 1999, roughly 20 months after the mandate became effect in Florida. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test each hypothesis and to provide a model that was. predict of teacher attitudes. Five null hypotheses were formed to determine if there were significant relationships between teacher attitudes toward the algebra mandate and the aforementioned variables. The results of the tests of five null hypotheses showed that the hypotheses that involved years of teaching mathematics and ethnicity was rejected. These five predictor variables accounted for 27% of the variance in teacher attitudes. The inference drawn from the study was that the negative attitudes of veteran White teachers and the positive attitudes of Hispanic teachers toward the mandate appear to have their roots in political and social considerations. Black teachers, on the other hand, have never challenged for the power in the district and are moderate in their attitudes toward the mandate.
Title: Attitudes of urban high school mathematics teachers toward the mandate requiring algebra for high school graduation.
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Name(s): Gray, Noel Constantine.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Maslin-Ostrowski, Patricia, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2000
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 120 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this study was to determine if urban high school mathematics teachers' attitudes toward the algebra mandate could be predicted by the variables: years of teaching mathematics, college major, highest college degree, gender, and ethnicity. Toward this end, the Attitude Toward the Algebra Mandate Survey (TATAMS) was administered to 98 high school mathematics teachers drawn from a total population of 493 who were employed by the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, during the 1998--1999 School Year. The study was carried out in June 1999, roughly 20 months after the mandate became effect in Florida. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test each hypothesis and to provide a model that was. predict of teacher attitudes. Five null hypotheses were formed to determine if there were significant relationships between teacher attitudes toward the algebra mandate and the aforementioned variables. The results of the tests of five null hypotheses showed that the hypotheses that involved years of teaching mathematics and ethnicity was rejected. These five predictor variables accounted for 27% of the variance in teacher attitudes. The inference drawn from the study was that the negative attitudes of veteran White teachers and the positive attitudes of Hispanic teachers toward the mandate appear to have their roots in political and social considerations. Black teachers, on the other hand, have never challenged for the power in the district and are moderate in their attitudes toward the mandate.
Identifier: 9780599611313 (isbn), 12623 (digitool), FADT12623 (IID), fau:9506 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.
Subject(s): Mathematics teachers--Attitudes
High schools--Graduation requirements
Mathematics--Study and teaching
Algebra
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12623
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.