Adapted Measure of Math Engagement

Healthy SchoolsApr 3 2024

Through the Adapted Measure of Math Engagement (AM-ME) project, Child Trends aims to open the gate to inclusive math learning environments and increase Black and Latino middle and high school students’ engagement in math.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, this three-year project partners with five schools to investigate the experiences of Black and Latino students’ engagement in math and develop an evidence-based, strengths-based measure for math teachers to assess that level of engagement. Ultimately, the project aims to create a culturally appropriate tool that math teachers can use widely in underresourced urban schools across the country.

This project is a partnership between Child Trends, Search Institute, McREL International, and Bloomington Public Schools.

Watch an Overview of the AM-ME Project From Participating Teachers and Students

Adapted Measure of Math Engagement Project Video

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Context

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a continuously growing and relatively high-paying field in the United States, which also fails to recruit and retain Black and Latino talents.

Racial/ethnic inequities in math are particularly concerning, as math is a gateway subject into STEM. There is growing evidence that the persistence of racial/ethnic inequalities in math is closely associated with educational factors that undermine student engagement.

To date, research and measures of Black and Latino student engagement are often based on deficit-based perspectives, which have failed to capture the many important ways in which math can be engaging for these students. Existing measures of student engagement are also not uniform in what they include—making it difficult to assess engagement over time—and have not been proven to work equally well across factors such as race/ethnicity and gender.

This project addresses these critical gaps in Black and Latino students’ engagement with math by taking a strengths-based approach that uplifts Black and Latino students’ unique cultural experiences, values, and norms, which can strengthen their educational experiences in diverse ways that are not supported by current math educational practices.

Research Approach

We organized a cross-disciplinary group of five researchers, five teachers, and five students—jointly known as the AM-ME Research Group—to co-design and implement this project.

Using an iterative, mixed-methods approach, the AM-ME Research Group:

Investigates whether a common current measure—the Math and Science Engagement Scales (MSES)—adequately reflects the experiences of Black and Latino students in math
Refines the MSES to better align with these students’ experiences, thereby creating the AM-ME
Statistically validates that the AM-ME measures math engagement works equally well for all students, and examines relationships between math engagement and math achievement

By intertwining qualitative and quantitative methods, this project will elevate the unique experiences of Black and Latino students’ math engagement and develop the AM-ME to reflect how these students think, feel, and perform in their math courses.

Critical Participatory Research

This model of research is rooted in the belief that those served by research should participate in the design of research questions, methods, analyses, interpretations, and action planning. The critical aspect of the approach encourages researchers, teachers, and students to investigate ways to better serve the needs of those not benefiting from current practices.

Timeline

Resources and Learnings

At the end of the project, we will produce a toolkit that explains how we created the AMME so that school districts can create their own measures of math engagement that capture the experiences of the communities they serve.

We regularly share learnings with local and national audiences through blogs, infographics, presentations, and journal articles. You can see a sampling of those below.

Year 2 Learnings

Ten Emerging Themes That Capture How Black and Latino Students Engage in Math

Three Ways Black and Latino Students Show They’re Engaged in Math

Teachers Must Be Equipped to Guide Students’ Growing Use of AI to Learn Math

Five Hot Tips to Sustain Youth Researcher Engagement in Projects

The Importance of Developmental Relationships in Fostering Black and Latino Students’ Math Engagement

Year 2 Survey Results

Year 1 Learnings

How Families and Communities Can Support Black and Latino Student Engagement in Math After the Pandemic

Centering the Experiences of Black and Latina/o Students in Math Infographic

What Teachers Should Know About Supporting Black and Latino Students’ Math Engagement After the Pandemic

Year 1 Survey Results

Funder

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant #2200437. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

AM-ME Research Group Members

Samantha Holquist, principal investigator
Diane Hsieh, co-principal investigator
Marisa Crowder, co-principal investigator
Mark Yu, co-principal investigator
Claire Kelley, co-principal investigator
Students: Antonio Chavira, Brianna Espy, Serrah Ssemukutu, Diamond Tony-Uduhirinwa, Ryan Ombongi, Salma Ahmed
Teachers: Nathan Earley, Kathleen Morgan, Karina Mazurek, Karla Rokke, Ashly Tritch,
District: Betsy Hawes