| Long before the "No Child Left Behind", Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or Brown vs. Board of Education, students of color have dreamed and struggled for equity in education. The issue of equal access to high quality of education highlighted in the NCLB focused public attention on the racial achievement gap. The present study examined mathematics enrollment and achievement trends among St. Louis area public high school students from 2000 to 2014 The study compared the results among racial groups and by gender rather than using a traditional Black-White comparison. Several frameworks contributed to the development of the study: Critical Race Theory, Effectively Maintained Inequality and Whiteness as property. Although the findings showed that enrollment in advanced mathematics classes and the number of students taking ACT tests increased across the racial groups, the results also indicated inequities in access to Advanced Placement classes, and level of college readiness. In conclusion, there is a little change in providing equitable access to advanced levels of mathematics with students who need it most receiving the least help and therefore remain far from closing the achievement gap. |
