Examining the mathematics education values of diverse groups of students

Figures & data

Table 1. Student demographics.

	Student ethnicities
	Asian	European	Māori	Pāsifika	Row totals
Males	14	123	54	70	261 (46%)
Females	9	157	55	81	302 (54%)
Tollmouth (Dec. 1)	1	1	15	112	129 (23%)
Smith (Dec. 6)	16	149	43	14	222 (39%)
Jersey (Dec. 3)	4	99	18	4	125 (22%)
Totara (Dec. 5)	0	28	15	0	43 (8%)
Ranginui (Dec. 1)	2	4	19	22	47 (8%)
Grade 7	17	163	69	93	342 (60%)
Grade 8	6	118	41	59	224 (40%)
Column totals	23 (4%)	281 (50%)	110 (19%)	152 (27%)

Note: Deciles 1 and 3 = low sociodemographic schools, deciles 5 and 6 = medium demographic schools.

Table 2. The fourteen mathematics education values and their corresponding value statements.

Mathematics education values	Value statement
Accuracy	To get the correct or right answer in mathematics
Belonging	Feeling like I belong, or I am connected to others in my mathematics class
Family	To have my family (whanau) help or support me with my mathematics
Mathematical clarity	Mathematics when it is clear and makes sense to me
Peer collaboration	Working together with other children in mathematics
Persistence	If I can’t solve a difficult mathematics problem, I need to keep working at it
Practice	To practice my mathematics lots so that I can improve
Problem solving	Trying out different way to see what works to solve a mathematics problem
Recall	To be able to know my basic facts quickly
Respect	Having respect for my mathematics teacher, and my teacher respecting me
Risk taking	To have a go at answering a mathematics problem even if I think I might be wrong
Communication/talking	Talking about my ideas with a group or with a partner
Teacher explanations	My mathematics teacher needs to explain it to me properly so that I can understand
Utility	Doing mathematics that is useful for my life outside of school

Figure 1. Mean value ratings from highest to lowest across all students.

Note: Value means are represented by the circle symbol and summarized on the far right. Values are ordered from the highest means at the top to the lowest means at the bottom.

Table 3. Value means and standard deviations across all demographic groups.

	Asian	Euro	Māori	Pāsifikā	M	F	Gr 7	Gr 8
Accuracy	7.83 (2.10)	6.34^14 (2.66)	5.76^14 (2.69)	7.22^14 (2.85)	6.60 (2.72)	6.46 (2.77)	6.50^14 (2.86)	6.55^14 (2.59)
Belonging	7.09 (2.39)	6.80 (2.60)	6.47 (2.75)	7.56 (2.41)	6.87 (2.50)	7.04 (2.66)	6.78 (2.63)	7.21 (2.53)
Clarity	8.04 (1.64)	7.21 (2.57)	6.57 (2.68)	7.64 (2.31)	7.42 (2.47)	7.08 (2.53)	7.08 (2.57)	7.47 (2.42)
Collaboration	7.57 (1.93)	6.68 (2.41)	6.56 (2.42)	7.63 (2.56)	6.94 (2.40)	6.99 (2.53)	6.96 (2.57)	6.94 (2.32)
Communication	7.09 (2.17)	6.70 (2.52)	6.49 (2.79)	7.64 (2.41)	6.69 (2.55)	7.15 (2.56)	6.88 (2.65)	7.00 (2.44)
Family	7.04^14 (2.65)	7.27 (2.54)	7.50^4 (2.58)	8.53^2 (2.20)	7.22 (2.66)	8.00^4 (2.34)	7.63^4 (2.63)	7.67 (2.34)
Persistence	8.30^3 (1.72)	7.55^5 (2.23)	7.32^5 (2.20)	8.03 (2.48)	7.68^5 (2.23)	7.66 (2.33)	7.49 (2.40)	7.93^4 (2.09)
Practice	8.26^5 (1.91)	7.17 (2.53)	7.05 (2.43)	8.34^4 (2.32)	7.25 (2.64)	7.74^5 (2.33)	7.46 (2.53)	7.57 (2.42)
Problem solving	7.96 (2.27)	7.14 (2.26)	7.18 (2.06)	8.19 (2.34)	7.44 (2.23)	7.49 (2.34)	7.49 (2.32)	7.43 (2.25)
Recall	8.30^4 (2.42)	7.61^4 (2.36)	7.05 (2.72)	8.39^3 (2.46)	7.77^3 (2.47)	7.72 (2.53)	7.60^5 (2.63)	7.96^3 (2.29)
Respect	8.74^1 (1.60)	8.47^1 (1.85)	8.29^1 (2.13)	8.89^1 (2.01)	8.22^1 (2.14)	8.85^1 (1.72)	8.58^1 (1.94)	8.53^1 (1.98)
Risk taking	8.39^2 (1.85)	7.91^2 (2.03)	7.55^3 (2.14)	8.12 (2.32)	7.76^4 (2.11)	8.07^2 (2.14)	7.92^2 (2.13)	7.91^5 (2.13)
Teacher explanations	8.26^5 (2.30)	7.88^3 (2.17)	7.68^2 (2.28)	8.19^5 (2.62)	7.81^2 (2.25)	8.06^3 (2.38)	7.86^3 (2.46)	8.06^2 (2.10)
Utility	8.13 (1.79)	7.38 (2.48)	6.90 (2.57)	7.74 (2.58)	7.21 (2.59)	7.59 (2.44)	7.22 (2.61)	7.71 (2.36)

Note: SD in brackets, M = males, F = females, ^1–5 top five values, ¹⁴ lowest value.

Table 4. Statistically significant group differences across the values.

	Values	Group 1	Group 2	Mean difference	P value
Ethnic differences	Accuracy	Pāsifika	European	.87	.007
		Pāsifika	Māori	1.41	<.001
	Communication	Pāsifika	European	.96	.001
		Pāsifika	Māori	1.17	.002
	Family	Pāsifika	Asian	1.47	.038
		Pāsifika	European	1.25	<.001
		Pāsifika	Māori	.99	.008
	Recall	Pāsifika	European	.79	.008
		Pāsifika	Māori	1.34	<.001
Gender differences	Family	females	males	.78	.024
	Practice	females	males	.49	.008
	Respect	females	males	.63	.007
	Risk taking	females	males	.31	.001
	Utility	females	males	.38	.006

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author (Julia Hill). The data are not publicly available due to them containing information that could compromise research participant privacy.