Description:

Purpose: Alaska Native-majority rural school districts typically score between the 10th and 30th percentile in math on Alaska's Benchmark Exam, while urban school districts in Alaska average between the 40th and 70th percentile. This academic gap between Alaska Native and mainstream culture students has been fueled by structural problems within the educational system, where teachers often use curricular and pedagogical approaches that do not reflect local knowledge and aptitudes. Culturally-based instruction has been suggested as one way to close the academic gap between Alaska Native and majority culture students. The purpose of the Math in a Cultural Context project is to develop a curriculum that students can identify with culturally that is accessible and interesting, thus motivating students to engage and learn.

Project Activities: The researchers are developing Math in a Cultural Context, a series of supplemental math modules (four to six weeks in length on a variety of math topics) that incorporate the knowledge of Yup'ik elders. The modules being refined and tested in this project are developed around everyday activities of the Yup'ik people and their subsistence-oriented lifestyle. For example, the star navigation module integrates Yup'ik knowledge about environmental features (e.g., mountains and rivers) and seasonal indicators (e.g., snowdrifts) to teach angles, movement, and measuring. Presently, five modules have been published and the sixth will be published in the near future. Preliminary results provide evidence that these modules may increase Alaska Native students' math performance. In the current project, the researchers are refining and testing five additional modules for use with sixth-graders.

Products: Products of this project include a math curriculum for use with Alaska Native elementary school students, and published reports of the potential impact of this curriculum on the mathematics achievement of Alaska Native elementary school students.

Structured Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the Math in a Cultural Context project is to develop a curriculum that students can identify with culturally that is accessible and interesting, thus motivating students to engage and learn.

Setting: The participating schools are drawn from five rural and two urban school districts in Alaska.

Population: Participants include 45 teachers and approximately 500 elementary school students, representing both rural Alaska Native students and urban students of mixed ethnicities.

Intervention: Math in a Cultural Context is a series of supplemental math modules (four to six weeks in length on a variety of math topics) that incorporate the knowledge of Yup'ik elders. The modules being refined and tested in this project are developed around everyday activities of the Yup'ik people and their subsistence-oriented lifestyle. For example, the star navigation module integrates Yup'ik knowledge about environmental features (e.g., mountains and rivers) and seasonal indicators (e.g., snowdrifts) to teach angles, movement, and measuring. Presently, five modules have been published and the sixth will be published in the near future. Preliminary results provide evidence that these modules may increase Alaska Native students' math performance. In the current project, the researchers are refining and testing five additional modules for use with sixth-graders.

Research Design and Methods: After completing the development of the five modules, the research team will use a cross-wise pairing method to assess the potential impact of the intervention. During each school semester, two modules/math topics will be evaluated (e.g., smokehouse—geometry vs. salmon fishing—probability). Teachers within schools will be randomly assigned to Treatment 1, Treatment 2, or to the control condition. Teachers in the treatment conditions only differ in the module (e.g., smokehouse vs. salmon fishing) for which they will receive training. When the first module/math topic (e.g. smokehouse—geometry) is being evaluated, teachers in Treatment 1 will receive intervention materials and training, while teachers in Treatment 2 and the control condition will use their standard curriculum and no training for the first module/math topic. When the second module/math topic is being evaluated, teachers in Treatment 2 will receive intervention materials and training, while teachers in Treatment 1 and the control condition will use their standard curriculum and no training for the second module/math topic.

Control Condition: Teachers in the control condition will receive no training and will not have any exposure to the modules.

Key Measures: State of Alaska mathematical assessments for sixth grade are being used for pre- and post-tests of student achievement.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers are analyzing student outcomes using Hierarchical Linear Modeling techniques.

Products and Publications

Book chapter

Lipka, J. Wong, M., Andrew-Ihrke, D., and Yanez, E. (2012). Developing an Alternative Learning Trajectory for Rational Number Reasoning, Geometry, and Measuring Based on Indigenous Knowledge. In S. Mukhopadhyay, and W.-M. Roth (Eds.), Alternative Forms of Knowing (in) Mathematics (pp. 159–182). New York: Sense Publications.

Lipka, J., Andrew-Ihrke, D., and Yanez, E. (in press). Symmetry and More: Contributions of Yup'ik Elders to Mathematics Education. In C. Nicols (Ed.), Living Culturally Responsive Mathematics Curriculum and Pedagogy: Making a Difference With/in Indigenous Communities. Sense Publications.

Lipka, J., Yanez, E., Andrew-Ihrke, D., and Adam, S. (2009). A Two Way-Process for Developing Effective Culturally Based Math: Examples From Math in a Cultural Context. In B. Greer, S. Mukhopadhyayi, A.B. Powell, and S. Nelson-Barber (Eds.), Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education (pp. 257–281). New York: Routledge.

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Kisker, E., Lipka, J., Adams, B.L., Rickard, A., Andrew-Ihrke, D., Yanez, E.E., and Millard, A. (2012). The Potential of a Culturally Based Supplemental Mathematics Curriculum to Improve the Mathematics Performance of Alaska Native and Other Students. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 43(1): 75–113.

Lipka, J., Andrew-Ihrke, D., and Yanez, E.E. (2011). Yup'ik Cosmology to School Mathematics: The Power of Symmetry and Proportional Measuring. Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education, 42(2): 157–183. doi:10.1007/s10780–011–9153–4