Educational equity and quality are not only research issues which cut across different disciplines but are major determinants of socio-economic and human development in both industrial and developing countries. The status and role of mathematics, a subject which has long enjoyed a privileged status in school curricula worldwide due to its perceived role in science and technology, render equity and quality in mathematics education at the heart of human development. This is reflected by governments' relatively large investments in improving the quality of mathematics education and extending it to marginalized and underprivileged groups.

The purpose of Toward Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is four-fold. First, the book examines the constructs of equity and quality and their interdependence from different perspectives. Second, it develops a conceptual framework for studying and analyzing the two constructs. Third, it examines, consolidates, and re-structures the literature on equity and quality in mathematics education. Finally, using data from TIMSS 2003, the book investigates the within and across country impact of the different equity-related factors on mathematics achievement in a sample of countries representative of worldwide geographical and cultural regions.

Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education uses a multi-dimensional conceptual framework to study and analyze issues in equity and quality. The framework consists of five perspectives hypothesized as determinants of equity in quality in mathematics education: Mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic. The framework can be thought of as a pyramid with mathematics as its base and the societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives as its faces. Thus, each point within this pyramid represents a unique equity in quality situation i.e. with different coordinates with respect to mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives.

Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is useful for teachers and researchers in mathematics education.

This book documents and expands on the diverse social and political dimensions of mathematics education issues, concerns, perspectives, contexts, and approaches presented in Topic Study Group 34 of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13). The book also argues for and promotes the mainstreaming of the sociopolitical dimensions of mathematics education through an ongoing critique and inquiry into content, policies, practices and theories. Accordingly, the main theme throughout the book is captured and illuminated by bringing voices from the margin to the mainstream. In this respect it is both aspirational and a reality, as evidenced by the increasing references to the sociopolitical dimensions in other areas of mathematics education-for example, in several of the plenary presentations at the ICME-13. The authors have reflected on their ideas with a view to orienting and enhancing research in the sociopolitical dimensions of mathematics education that is grounded in current education systems within their specific sociocultural contexts.

This book documents and expands on the diverse social and political dimensions of mathematics education issues, concerns, perspectives, contexts, and approaches presented in Topic Study Group 34 of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13). The book also argues for and promotes the mainstreaming of the sociopolitical dimensions of mathematics education through an ongoing critique and inquiry into content, policies, practices and theories. Accordingly, the main theme throughout the book is captured and illuminated by bringing voices from the margin to the mainstream. In this respect it is both aspirational and a reality, as evidenced by the increasing references to the sociopolitical dimensions in other areas of mathematics education-for example, in several of the plenary presentations at the ICME-13. The authors have reflected on their ideas with a view to orienting and enhancing research in the sociopolitical dimensions of mathematics education that is grounded in current education systems within their specific sociocultural contexts.

This book examines the current thinking on five critical social and political areas in mathematics education. It focuses on material conditions in teaching and learning, and details features of social life and their influence on mathematics teaching, learning and achievement. Following an introduction, the first section addresses equitable access and participation in quality mathematics education. It explores this issue in different contexts and from different ideological perspectives. The second section traces the emergence and development of the notion of activism in mathematics education in theory, in the literature, in research and in practice. The third section then moves on to explore current research on the political forces at work in identity, subjectivity and (dis)ability within mathematics education, showing how emphasis on language and discourse provides information for this research, and how new directions are being pursued to address the diverse material conditions that shape learning experiences in mathematics education. Economic factors behind mathematics achievement form the topic of section four, which examines the political dimensions of mathematics education through the influence of national and global economic structures. The final section addresses distribution of power and cultural regimes of truth, based on the premise that although often deemed apolitical, mathematics and mathematics education are highly political institutions in our society. The book concludes with a summary and recommendations for the future.

Educational equity and quality are not only research issues which cut across different disciplines but are major determinants of socio-economic and human development in both industrial and developing countries. The status and role of mathematics, a subject which has long enjoyed a privileged status in school curricula worldwide due to its perceived role in science and technology, render equity and quality in mathematics education at the heart of human development. This is reflected by governments' relatively large investments in improving the quality of mathematics education and extending it to marginalized and underprivileged groups. The purpose of Toward Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is four-fold. First, the book examines the constructs of equity and quality and their interdependence from different perspectives. Second, it develops a conceptual framework for studying and analyzing the two constructs. Third, it examines, consolidates, and re-structures the literature on equity and quality in mathematics education. Finally, using data from TIMSS 2003, the book investigates the within and across country impact of the different equity-related factors on mathematics achievement in a sample of countries representative of worldwide geographical and cultural regions. Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education uses a multi-dimensional conceptual framework to study and analyze issues in equity and quality. The framework consists of five perspectives hypothesized as determinants of equity in quality in mathematics education: Mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic. The framework can be thought of as a pyramid with mathematics as its base and the societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives as its faces. Thus, each point within this pyramid represents a unique equity in quality situation i.e. with different coordinates with respect to mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives. Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is useful for teachers and researchers in mathematics education.