Cassie Brown Case Study 4 Problems (Recognize) Cassie’s math teacher (Mr. Tempe) questions Cassie to reconsider further study of math in college. Cassie is in emotional turmoil since her career goals and dreams for the future have been seriously questioned by her teacher. There are misperceptions among people in this case study about the ability of women and students of color to succeed in the fields of math and science. There is an underrepresentation of women and students of color as teachers in mathematics and the sciences, as well as in careers that require this background.

Values/Beliefs (Reframe) Cassie: Persistent. She will not give up on her dream despite her circumstances Feels her math teacher has low expectations on minorities and women in mathematics, and that he owes her apology Proud to have worked hard to get to this point Supported and appreciated by her counselor, parents, and pastor Mr. Horton: Wants to be helpful, even though he’s the new pastor at Cassie’s church

Values/Beliefs (Reframe) Mr. Tempe: In some way, may want to shield Cassie from failure (protective?) Very strict and traditional approach to math pedagogy Frustrated and concerned about Cassie after explaining solution to her twice High focus on math content Low expectations on women and minorities for math

Values/Beliefs (Reframe) Ms. Jensen: Surprised to see Cassie for this issue. This indicates her familiarity and confidence in Cassie as strong student Diplomatic, wants to see if Mr. Tempe questioned out of being helpful than hurtful to Cassie Empathetic and concerned about the low representation of women and minorities in college. Wants to support Cassie to achieve her college goals.

Before we move forward… Let’s think as a class what are the common pattern of beliefs/values among the differing parties in the Cassie Brown case study.

Party Belief/Values (abridged phrasing) Cassie Persistent, feels her math teacher has low expectations on minorities and women; pride; feels supported by others. Mr. Horton: Wants to help. Mr. Tempe Wants to shield Cassie from failure; frustrated Cassie’s progress; strict & traditional; high math focus; low expectations women and minorities. Ms. Jensen: Wants to help; surprised to see Cassie; diplomatic for all parties; empathetic & concerned on low representation of women and minorities in math.

References Adenika-Morrow, T.J. (1996). Lifeline to science careers for African American females. Educational Leadership, 53(8), 80-83. Clewell, B., Anderson, B, & Thorpe, M. (1992). Breaking the barriers: Helping female and minority students succeed in mathematics and science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Davis, B.M. (2005, June). Make room at the top: Getting to the heart of women’s exclusion from science & the professions - A real world look. Paper presented at the eighth International Women’s Policy Research conference. Retrieved November 8, 2010, from http://www.iwpr.org/PDF/05_Proceedings/Moseley _Davis_Barbara.pdf. Riegle-Crumb, C. (2006). The path through math: Course sequences and academic performance at the intersection of race-ethnicity and gender. American Journal of Education, 113(1), 101–122. First two refs are from end of Chapter 10, the other two are from my research. The Davis article came from a conference proceeding (but only listed online, could not find the printed published proceeding). I put this here because not only did I feel it connects mostly with this case study, but also as example of APA citation---for those of you who may have forgotten—for conference presentation information that was retrieved online. The Riegle-Crumb article link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2889488/ Its database for analysis is the national data from Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement. Abstract: “this article examines high school math patterns for students of different race-ethnicity and gender. Compared with white males, African American and Latino males receive lower returns from taking Algebra I during their freshman year, reaching lower levels of the math course sequence when they begin in the same position. This pattern is not explained by academic performance, and, furthermore, African American males receive less benefit from high math grades. Lower returns are not observed for minority female students, suggesting that more attention to racial-ethnic inequality in math among male students is needed.”

Now it’s your turn… Come up with 4 goals of this case study AND Action Plan taken from 1 of your 4 goals. (Please note that Action Plan needs to have 4 strategies listed.) I’ll show you my example in the next slides.

4 Goals (Alternatives) Resolve differences in opinion between Cassie and Mr. Tempe with regards to Cassie’s progress in class. Support Cassie, both emotionally and practically, in regards to her career goals. Change the thinking among school faculty and staff about the ability of women and students of color to succeed in the fields of math and science. Bring awareness on the underrepresentation of women and students of color in fields of math and science.

Plan of Action for #3 Strategy 1: Set up series of inservice or professional development workshops at Cassie’s school to address perceptions of women and students of color for college, particularly in math and science. One of those activities would be for school staff to participate in “drawing a scientist” and then discuss the gender implication afterwards. Person responsible: Principal Evaluation Criteria: School staff fill out pre and post surveys on what they know on women and students of color with regards to higher academic goals. Ask staff what they intend to do in raising awareness and follow up accordingly, and include in teacher’s formal/informal evaluation plans. Timeline: Throughout the following school year

Plan of Action for #3 (Continued) Strategy 2: Encourage students to attend “Expanding Your Horizons” Conference at San Jose State University. http://www.sjsu.edu/eyh/ Person responsible: Math Department Chair or Individual Math Teachers Evaluation Criteria: Have that as positive attribute on teacher’s formal and informal evaluation process. Teacher conducts pre and post conference surveys and/or activities with female student participants. Timeline: Comes every March

Plan of Action for #3 (Continued) Strategy 3: Teachers to address women and math/science careers through participation in IISME. http://iisme.org/ Person responsible: Math Department Chair or Individual Math Teachers Evaluation Criteria: Teacher must apply and be accepted into IISME (which is an 8 week commitment to intern in math/science industry over the summer). In their Fellowship Grant, address how they will improve motivation of women and students of color in their classes. Timeline: Internship is during the summer; follow up of the Fellowship grant is during the following school year.

Plan of Action for #3 (Continued) Strategy 4: Can you come up with one? Person responsible: Evaluation Criteria: Timeline: