The goal of this SGER project is to develop tools to better examine the instructional support structures districts provide to promote high-quality instruction to low performing students, particularly African American (AA) and English Language Learners (ELL). The outcomes of the project are two tools: (1) a "good instruction plus" rubric to code and asses the quality of instruction provided to low performing students and (2) a coding scheme to analyze equity-related issues in data that document the institutional settings of the mathematics instruction provided. The PIs contend that while instruments such as the Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) embody ambitious mathematics instructional visions, they support the perception that "good" mathematics instructional can be equally defined for all. The PIs in this project hypothesize that good mathematics instruction for low-performing AA and ELL students needs to include all aspects of good instruction measured through IQA plus other instructional related issues such as de-tracking, use all high-quality curriculum with all students, and targeted professional development for teachers. This project allows the PIs to develop and test new tools to appropriately measure these important equity-related aspects of mathematics instruction and institutional setting.
