The University of New Mexico is partnering with three state school districts to improve mathematics education for children of working class Hispanics. Albuquerque Public Schools, Bernalillo Public Schools and Socorro Consolidated Schools, along with the UNM Colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences, are collaborators in the National Science Foundation funded Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos (CEMELA).
CEMELA will address the mathematics education needs of Hispanics, the largest minority group in the country. Total project funding from the National Science Foundation is $10 million. Approximately $1.36 million will allow UNM to conduct research and help develop a model that combines mathematics teaching and learning with the cultural, social, linguistic contexts of Hispanic students. Additional partners in CEMELA are universities and public school districts in Arizona, California and Illinois.
Researchers will specially address what university faculty, schoolteachers and administrators need to know to teach mathematics effectively to Hispanic students. CEMELA will develop leaders in mathematics education by recruiting graduate level students to participate in research and teaching activities. Seven doctoral students and one post-doctoral student will receive funding to conduct research and professional development activities over the next five years.
UNM professors Richard Kitchen and Sylvia Celedón Pattichis will serve as principal investigators. Kitchen holds a joint faculty appointment in the departments of education specialties, and mathematics and statistics. Both faculty members contributed their findings earlier this year to a national study on the characteristics of highly effective schools in low-income communities.
“To achieve our goal, we will bring together experts in education, mathematics, language and culture to improve the mathematics education of New Mexico’s working class Hispanics,” Kitchen said.
The grant will promote expertise and innovations in research, teacher education and parental involvement, to be shared with the larger academic community.
Contact: Greg Johnston (505) 277-1816