Culture in elementary mathematics education for African-American learners: Enhancing achievement through curricular design

African-American children and youth do less well on measures of mathematics achievement than their majority peers. Despite intervention measures based on various theories, performance differences persist and impact on educational, employment, and other opportunities. Several studies have documented equivalent mathematical skills in preschool African-American and white children; however, by grade three, differences appear and increase throughout the school years. Cognitive research has shown that African-American children tend to have a field dependent rather than a field independent perceptive style; other differences in people orientation, reaction to external stimuli, and reinforcement mechanisms suggest that alternative teaching styles might prove more effective with these children. Other studies have found that, if mathematics is seen as relevant, children tend to learn more easily; in particular, relating learning in school to what is informally learned at home enhances achievement. To have an impact on the mathematics achievement of African-American children, a program must be designed for the early school years, must be tailored to their learning styles, and must include culturally relevant material. Thus, fundamental curriculum reform is in order. With these concepts in mind and following the general principles of curriculum design, a mathematics curriculum has been designed to address the dominant learning styles of African-American children and to incorporate material from African and African-American cultural heritages. To facilitate curriculum design, a socioethnic review of West African mathematical heritage is undertaken. Specific learning activities that implement the curriculum design principles are included.