Not everyone is the same: How Demographic, Contextual, and Instructional Factors Contribute to Mathematics Identity in Various Student Populations

Abstract

Research suggests a positive mathematics identity is associated with increased achievement and engagement in mathematics. However, previous large scale research on mathematics identity has examined students as a homogeneous group, ignoring differences that may exist due gender, race, or ability level. Additionally, research examining conceptual instruction has focused on the effect it has on achievement, but not on the way it improves identity. This study addresses these two gaps by examining the contribution conceptual instruction makes to the mathematics identity of students and how that contribution differs when considering race, gender, and achievement. This secondary analysis of survey data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 uses multiple regression to investigate the relationship between conceptual instruction and mathematics identity in a sample of over 23,000 ninth graders. I divided the sample by achievement level to look for different relationships between samples of low and high achieving students across the United States. Findings show that conceptual instruction positively contributes to student mathematics identity and reveals race to be a significant moderator in this relationship